Constance Wu Kept Silent About Sexual Harassment to Protect Reputation of ‘Fresh Off the Boat’
The Crazy Rich Asians star is opening up about her “traumatic” time on the family sitcom.
Entertainment

During an interview at The Atlantic Festival on Friday, September 23, actor Constance Wu opened up about her experiences of sexual harassment and intimidation by a senior production member while working on the show Fresh Off The Boat. Wu was at the Washington D.C. festival to discuss her upcoming memoir, Making A Scene, which comes out on October 4. In the book, she talks at length about her experiences with the individual—whom she only identifies by initial—during FOTB’s first two seasons.
“I eventually realized it was important to talk about because I did have a pretty traumatic experience my first couple years on the show and nobody knew about it,” Wu told Atlantic staff writer Shirley Li at the festival. She added that her decision to speak out about her experiences on the show did not come easy and that she was “pretty resistant” to writing about what happened, which is what the book’s final essay, “You Do What I Say,” is about.
And in a recent interview with The New York Times, Wu discussed that period of her life, all of which are more fully detailed in the book. When the show first began, the producer was particularly controlling over Wu, demanding that he have a say in both her business matters and wardrobe choices. In 2015, at a sporting event, he allegedly put his hand on Wu’s thigh and grazed Wu’s crotch, an incident she brushed off at the time. Eventually, during FOTB’s second season, Wu felt more empowered to stand up against the producer, and the two stopped talking after she refused to attend a film festival with him.