Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu recounts sexual assault in her 20s, then Hollywood’s ‘latent sexism’
- Constance Wu discussed the sexual assault in her new memoir, ‘Making a Scene’
- Wu also recounts ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ producer sexually harassed her in first seasons
US actress Constance Wu, known for her lead roles in Fresh Off the Boat and Crazy Rich Asians, has come out about being raped in her 20s.
It happened on a second date with “Ty”, an aspiring novelist who invited her up to his flat for a “gift” that proved to be “an original 20-page medieval fantasy in which I was the central character,” wrote Wu, 40, in her new book, Making a Scene. “A fantasy he’d written after one date.”
She had agreed to go upstairs to his flat to receive this gift, ignoring a “twinge of warning in my gut”. It was there that he plied her with the gift-wrapped box, donned a condom and ignored her when she said, more than once: “I’m not ready to have sex with you”.
While it was clear in her head at the time that she had not consented, neither did she think to call it rape, she wrote. This was both for self-preservation and because it did not seem to fit the usual definition of rape.
Because of that, Wu wrote in the book, excerpted by Vanity Fair, she realised in retrospect that she most likely would not have been believed. She also recognised his bafflement, pointing out that it seems to be shared by many men who see themselves as “the good guy”.
Yet telling, perhaps, was Ty’s reaction when Wu definitively told him via email – after months of calls and texts that she ignored – that she did not want to date him.
