Actor Constance Wu revealed Thursday that she practically died by suicide in 2019, following widespread social media backlash to a sequence of tweets she posted expressing frustration with the renewal of ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” on which she starred on the time.
In an announcement asserting her tentative return to Twitter, the “Hustlers” and “Crazy Rich Asians” star stated she “was afraid of coming back on social media because I almost lost my life from it.”
“After a little break from Hollywood and a lot of therapy I feel OK enough to venture back on here (at least for a little bit). And even though I’m scared, I’ve decided that I owe it to the me-of-3-years-ago to be brave and share my story so that it might help someone with theirs,” Wu wrote.
In May 2019, Wu, then starring on ABC’s groundbreaking sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat,” posted a number of tweets expressing frustration with the community renewing the present for what turned its last season. “So upset right now that I’m literally crying,” she stated, in a now-deleted tweet on the day the community made the announcement.
After intense uproar on social media, Wu later defined her frustration was as a result of the present’s renewal meant she “had to give up another project that I was really passionate about,” she wrote on Twitter. “So my dismayed social media replies were more about that other project and not about FOTB.”
On Thursday, she went on to element that among the many “severe” social media feedback she obtained in response to her tweets had been messages “from a fellow Asian actress,” who informed Wu “I’d become a blight on the Asian American community.”
“I started feeling like I didn’t even deserve to live anymore,” Wu wrote on Thursday, describing how the messages had made her really feel like “a disgrace” to Asian Americans.
“Looking back, it’s surreal that a few DMs convinced me to end my own life, but that’s what happened,” she continued. “Luckily, a friend found me and rushed me to the ER.”
Wu described how the state of affairs “made me reassess a lot in my life,” together with getting off social media and pausing her profession to prioritize her psychological well being. She urged fellow Asian Americans to speak extra about psychological well being and never keep away from “the more uncomfortable issues within our community.”
The actor, who’s at the moment starring on the Amazon sequence “The Terminal List,” additionally revealed that she wrote a ebook known as “Making a Scene,” “to reach out and help people talk about the uncomfortable stuff in order to understand it, reckon with it, and open pathways to healing.”
“If we want to be seen, really seen … we need to let all of ourselves be seen, including the parts we’re scared of or ashamed of — parts that, however imperfect, require care and attention,” she stated. “And we need to stop beating each other (and ourselves) up when we do.”
If you or somebody you understand wants assist, name 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You may also textual content HOME to 741-741 at no cost, 24-hour assist from the Crisis Text Line. Outside of the U.S., please go to the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of sources.
