hindsight

Constance Wu Clarifies Twitter Fiasco: ‘Am I Elegant? No.’

Photo: Andrew Toth/Getty Images

Earlier this summer, Constance Wu learned that being a public figure often means keeping some things off of Twitter. The Hustlers star recently opened up to the Los Angeles Times about how the backlash from her “Twitter fiasco” back in May changed her perception of her fame. Wu’s heated tweets were in response to the news that her ABC show, Fresh Off the Boat, had been renewed for a sixth season, preventing her from working on a play. Tabloids, fans, and haters alike interpreted it as Wu being a diva or ungrateful, but, to her, that’s the furthest from the truth. “I am grateful for my entire career,” she said. “But the fact that my career has been historic shouldn’t necessarily be a call [to say to] me, ‘You should be so lucky’ — it should be a call to pay attention to the fact that this kind of thing shouldn’t have been historic. Me getting to play a fully human experience as an Asian-American, that shouldn’t be historic.”

Instead of focusing on her, Wu wants to change “the system” and get more Asian-American leads on screen. If the fiasco did one good thing, now the world knows that she’s flawed. “There is an expectation of the way that I ought to behave, and not just of perfection but of graciousness,” Wu continued. “And I am grateful. But am I elegant? No.”

Constance Wu Clarifies Twitter Fiasco: ‘Am I Elegant? No.’