Actor Constance Wu revealed Thursday that she almost died by suicide in 2019, following widespread social media backlash to a collection of tweets she posted expressing frustration with the renewal of ABC’s “Contemporary Off the Boat,” on which she starred on the time.
In a press release saying her tentative return to Twitter, the “Hustlers” and “Loopy Wealthy Asians” star stated she “was afraid of coming again on social media as a result of I nearly misplaced my life from it.”
“After a bit of break from Hollywood and a lot of remedy I really feel OK sufficient to enterprise again on right here (a minimum of for a bit of bit). And regardless that I’m scared, I’ve determined that I owe it to the me-of-3-years-ago to be courageous and share my story in order that it would assist somebody with theirs,” Wu wrote.
In Could 2019, Wu, then starring on ABC’s groundbreaking sitcom “Contemporary Off the Boat,” posted a number of tweets expressing frustration with the community renewing the present for what turned its last season. “So upset proper now that I’m actually 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 surrender one other challenge that I used to be actually obsessed with,” she wrote on Twitter. “So my dismayed social media replies had been extra about that different challenge and never about FOTB.”
On Thursday, she went on to element that among the many “extreme” social media feedback she acquired in response to her tweets had been messages “from a fellow Asian actress,” who advised Wu “I’d develop into a blight on the Asian American neighborhood.”
“I began feeling like I didn’t even should reside anymore,” Wu wrote on Thursday, describing how the messages had made her really feel like “a shame” to Asian Individuals.
“Wanting again, it’s surreal that just a few DMs satisfied me to finish my very own life, however that’s what occurred,” she continued. “Fortunately, a good friend discovered me and rushed me to the ER.”
Wu described how the state of affairs “made me reassess so much in my life,” together with getting off social media and pausing her profession to prioritize her psychological well being. She urged fellow Asian Individuals to speak extra about psychological well being and never keep away from “the extra uncomfortable points inside our neighborhood.”
The actor, who’s presently starring on the Amazon collection “The Terminal Listing,” additionally revealed that she wrote a e book known as “Making a Scene,” “to achieve out and assist folks speak in regards to the uncomfortable stuff with a view to perceive it, reckon with it, and open pathways to therapeutic.”
“If we need to be seen, actually seen … we have to let all of ourselves be seen, together with the elements we’re afraid of or ashamed of — elements that, nonetheless imperfect, require care and a focus,” she stated. “And we have to cease beating one another (and ourselves) up once we do.”
In the event you or somebody you already know wants assist, name 1-800-273-8255 for the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You can too textual content HOME to 741-741 at no cost, 24-hour help from the Disaster Textual content Line. Exterior of the U.S., please go to the Worldwide Affiliation for Suicide Prevention for a database of sources.
