Constance Wu tearfully recalls moment she considered suicide after Twitter backlash

In 2019, actor sparked online firestorm over ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ tweets

Constance Wu has opened up about the emotional stress she was under after tweets she posted in 2019 sparked major backlash.

Following the renewal of her ABC sitcom, Fresh Off the Boat, for its fifth and final season in 2019, the 40-year-old actor posted her dismay at the news, which fans and fellow actors took as a sign of ungratefulness.

In a later tweet, Wu apologised, saying: “I love FOTB. I was temporarily upset yesterday not because I hate the show, but because its renewal meant I had to give up on another project that I was really passionate about.”

After returning to social media in July after a three-year hiatus, the Crazy Rich Asians star revealed: “A fellow Asian actress told me I’d become a blight on the Asian American community.”

“I started feeling like I didn’t even deserve to live anymore. That I was a disgrace to AsAms [Asian Americans], and they’d be better off without me,” she added.

Now, speaking on a recent Good Morning America appearance while promoting her debut memoir, Making a Scene, Wu tearfully recalled the devastating effect that the social media onslaught had on her.

“I pulled myself over the balcony of my apartment building, and I was going to jump,” she recounted. “Talking about it now makes my palms itch because I remember holding onto it.”

Constance Wu on ‘Good Morning America’ (Good Morning America )

Wu reflected: “Ultimately, it ended up being something helpful because it made me get help.

“I was in therapy every day for a while, and it took me a long time to get on medication,” she added. “I was cancelled for not being the Asian that people wanted me to be: Ungrateful, bratty, whatever.

“Do I think that the proportion of the hatred and cancellation pitted at me was equal to the amount of error I did? No. But whatever, I’m thinking about how I can be a better person,” she said.

Making a Scene is out now.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, the Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.