Constance Wu says backlash to her Fresh Off the Boat tweets 'convinced me to end my own life'

Constance Wu returned to social media Thursday after a three-year hiatus, during which time the Hustlers and Crazy Rich Asians star says she attempted suicide after enduring backlash to a series of tweets she made about her ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat.

"I was afraid of coming back on social media because I almost lost my life from it: 3 years ago, when I made careless tweets about the renewal of my TV show, it ignited outrage and internet shaming that got pretty severe," Wu, 40, wrote in a statement posted to Twitter, referring to comments she made in 2019 expressing dismay at FOTB's season 6 renewal. "I felt awful about what I'd said, and when a few DMs from 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, and they'd be better off without me."

She added, "Looking back, 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."

Wu called the ordeal a "scary moment" that made her reassess her life, and said she wanted to share the news with her followers to "open pathways to healing" in the aftermath.

"For the next few years, I put my career aside to focus on my mental health," she wrote. "AsAms 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. Even my tweets became a subject so touchy that most of my AsAm colleagues decided that was the time to avoid me or ice me out. I'll admit it hurt a lot, but it also made me realize how important it is to reach out and care for people who are going through a hard time."

Wu attributed "a little break from Hollywood and a lot of therapy" to helping her re-establish an emotional balance in her life — enough that she felt comfortable venturing back to Twitter. "And even though I'm scared," she concluded, "I've decided that I owe it to the me-of-3-years-ago to be brave and share my story so that it might help someone with theirs."

The Terminal List actress made headlines in 2019 when she tweeted "f---ing hell" in response to ABC's announcement that Fresh Off the Boat, which starred Wu as the matriarch of an Asian American family living in 1990s Florida, would move forward with a sixth season. She also tweeted that she was "literally crying" over the news, and later clarified that her words were "ill timed" and expressed after a particularly difficult day.

"I love FOTB," she wrote in a follow-up message. "I was temporarily upset yesterday not [because] I hate the show but [because] its renewal meant I had to give up another project that I was really passionate about. So my dismayed social media replies were more about that other project and not about FOTB."

Wu recently told EW about writing her life experiences into a new memoir, Making a Scene, which she also referred to in her post Thursday.

"Making a Scene is a tribute to the people and events that have shaped my humanity and determined the direction of my life," she said. "Writing it taught me to look back on formative memories with curiosity and attention, rather than my old patterns of judgment and shame. It was a practice I found healing and heartening. My hope for this book is that it might encourage readers to look at their own lives in this way, too. My hope is that it will be helpful."

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

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