Constance Wu Opens Up About Her Suicide Attempt in New Memoir

Content warning: this post contains discussion of suicide.

"Hustlers" and "Crazy Rich Asians" star Constance Wu's memoir, "Making a Scene," came out today, and in it, the actor shares details about the suicide attempt she made after facing intense social media backlash in 2019.

Wu received criticism for tweets she posted just after her show "Fresh Off the Boat" was renewed for a sixth season: "So upset right now that I'm literally crying. Ugh," she wrote. She later clarified in another tweet that her words were a reaction to a rough day and were "ill timed" with the news of the show: "I was temporarily upset yesterday not bc I hate the show but bc its renewal meant I had to give up another project that I was really passionate about."

However, in her memoir, Wu gives more context about what was happening behind the scenes on "Fresh Off the Boat," including the fact that she was dealing with sexual harassment from a producer on the show, as reported by People.

Wu wouldn't reveal a name but says she was targeted by "a Chinese American guy in his late thirties" from the beginning of her time on the show (which was also her first network sitcom). The male producer would tell her, "Nobody wanted you. I had to fight for you," she writes, per People. From there, it only got worse. According to Wu, he "told me I looked better in short skirts and should wear them more often 'while you still can,' he'd say with a smirk," she recalls. "He constantly questioned me about my dating life, past and present. . . . Sometimes, he texted me late at night, requesting selfies. It made me feel uncomfortable and I didn't want to." After touching her inappropriately at a Lakers game, on the car ride home, he allegedly said, "You know what the best thing about producing this show is? That I can f--- whatever aspiring Asian actress I want to."

Back in 2019, even after Wu tried to explain her tweets, she continued to receive many messages from fans and actors calling her ungrateful. "I apologized to a very upset former colleague of mine over DM. She replied with DM after DM shaming me . . . telling me that nothing I could ever do would make up for my atrocious behavior and disgusting ingratitude. How I had sullied the one shining beacon of hope for Asian Americans. How selfish I was to not consider everyone else's jobs on the show," she writes.

Wu couldn't understand why this other person wouldn't believe her remorse. "My head spinning, I realized I needed a wound to prove it, to prove that I hurt as bad as everyone said I deserved to hurt and it couldn't be a little wound, it had to be the biggest wound in the world for it to be enough. That's how I ended up clutching the balcony railing of my fifth-floor apartment," she writes. Looking back now, Wu says, "it's surreal that a few DMs convinced me to end my own life, but that's what happened. Luckily, a friend found me and rushed me to the ER."

After that, Wu decided to take "a little break from Hollywood" and social media to focus on her mental health.

In a July 2022 tweet announcing her return to Twitter and her forthcoming memoir, Wu wrote that Asian Americans "don't talk about mental health enough. While we're quick to celebrate representation wins, there's a lot of avoidance around the more uncomfortable issues within our community."

This is why she wrote her book "and why I'm here today — 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 or ashamed of — parts that, however imperfect, require care and attention," she writes. "And we need to stop beating each other (and ourselves) up when we do."

Wu's book, "Making a Scene" ($25), came out today and contains essays about her upbringing, experiencing sexual assault early in her career, and how she "made it" in Hollywood.

If you or a loved one are experiencing suicidal ideation or are at risk, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has several resources and a 24/7 lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.