Alumni of the show “Fresh Off the Boat” Constance Wu alleges in her soon-to-be-released memoir that a senior member of the production crew on the now-cancelled ABC comedy sexually assaulted her when they were working together.
The New York Times states that the actress, who is 40 years old, only refers to the employee by their initials in the film “Making a Scene.”
According to the Times, Wu also claims that the man displayed controlling behaviors during the first season of the show in 2015. These behaviors included “demanding that she run all of her business concerns by him and directing her what to wear,” as stated in the aforementioned publication.
The article quoted Wu as saying, “‘Fresh Off the Boat’ was the very first TV show I ever appeared on. I had no choice but to enter this world. My parents did not work in this field when I was growing up. People assumed I knew what I was doing because I was 30 years old at the time. It gave me a false sense of security and made me feel ashamed.”
According to the actress, who played the show’s matriarch Jessica Huang, things took a more physical turn when she and the producer attended a sporting event together. According to the Times’ account, while there, he allegedly “put his hand on her thigh, his palm ultimately grazing her crotch.”
Wu asserts that she urged him to stop, and that they both later tried to make it seem like the alleged incident never happened.
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At a panel discussion that took place on Friday in Washington, District of Columbia, Wu shared the reasoning for her choice to speak up about the alleged inappropriate behavior.
“I kept my mouth shut for a really long time about a lot of the sexual harassment and intimidation that I received over the first two seasons of the program,” she said. “It was inappropriate for me to discuss it.” Because, after the first two seasons, once it was a success and once I was no longer afraid of losing my job, that’s when I was able to start saying ‘no’ to the harassment and ‘no’ to the intimidation from this particular producer, she stated, as reported by Variety.
During her extended time away from the public eye, Wu authored the book that would later bear her name. After receiving criticism for tweeting that she was “very heartbroken” and “actually crying” about the 2019 renewal of “Fresh Off the Boat,” she decided to take a hiatus from social media for a period of three years.
She even made an attempt to take her own life, but a friend stopped her and prevented it from happening.
“It’s a good thing a friend spotted me and took me to the emergency room right away. It was a terrifying experience that caused me to reevaluate a great deal in my life,” the star of “Hustlers” stated in a statement on Twitter in July. “I have decided to put my professional life on hold for the foreseeable future so that I may concentrate on improving my mental health.”
In addition, Wu mentioned that her soon-to-be-released memoir is “not always the most flattering portrayal” of herself. However, she emphasized that it is “as honest as I know how to be.”
