Simu Liu is speaking out.
The Shang-Chi actor clapped back at an article that suggested he was monopolizing the Asian male roles that were available in Hollywood — and that he was getting his roles, like his most recent Barbie role as Ken – to tokenism.
The article, published in Huffpost, voiced its confusion at SImu’s Barbie casting, and said:
”Don’t get us wrong — we love Liu, and we’re all for an Asian king thriving,” the HuffPost article said. “But when a single actor appears to be getting the bulk of Asian male roles in Hollywood, it starts to feel a little less like representation and a lot more like tokenism.
All we’re saying is, we don’t want a predominantly white Hollywood to gatekeep sexy Asian male representation like it has for decades when there are so many other attractive and talented Asian men who deserve to be seen and appreciated by the general public.”
Simu took to the comments section of Huffpost Entertainment’s Facebook post sharing the article. He criticized the story, saying that the number of Asian male roles available is a not a “zero sum game.”
Read what he wrote here:
“Way to attempt to put us against one another. What ‘bulk’ of roles are you referring to? Are there movies I’m in that I’m not aware of? Do you really think that there is a quota of ‘Asian male roles’ that is a zero sum game? Every thing I have taken post Shang-Chi was not written Asian.”
We’ve been able to reshape stories to get more representation onscreen. Get your facts straight.”
Simu shared the article to his own Facebook page, saying it was “the trashiest take by HuffPo” and adding:
“Also I’m not a thirst trap I’m a f**king actor.”
