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Putting Constance Wu's Reaction to Her Show's Renewal in Context

By Dustin Rowles | TV | May 13, 2019

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Header Image Source: Getty Images

There was a bloodbath of cancellations on Black Friday that bled well into this weekend, as the networks began pulling plugs on their television series. The most painful was the cancelation of the splendid Speechless after three seasons, although I will at least grant that Speechless provided a satisfactory conclusion in its season finale. I was pained somewhat by the cancellation of The Kids Are Alright and I’ll even admit to being a little saddened by the cancellation of Splitting Up Together, a not terribly great sitcom that I kind of adored, anyway. The biggest blow, however, may have been Trial and Error, which will hurt literally almost no one else because nobody watched it, which is why it was cancelled. Lethal Weapon, The Passage and Angie Tribeca were also let go, among others.

Yesterday, ABC also pulled the plug on Whiskey Cavailier, a bland show with a great cast, and while I didn’t love it, I’m not heartless enough not to feel some sadness for Scott Foley and his wife, Marika DomiÅ„czyk, who also recurred on Cavalier. Here they are shedding real tears over its cancellation:

Scott Foley is a ridiculously handsome man.

Of course, there were also a bevy of renewals for shows that were seen to be on the bubble, like ABC’s Bless This Mess, which — after a generic pilot episode — has already grown into a potentially solid sitcom in its first season. Also, Nathan Fillion’s The Rookie will also be back. Fresh off the Boat was also renewed, and no one provided a more inexplicable response to that than Constance Wu, the star of the show who expressed extreme displeasure at the show’s renewal, cursing (“Fucking hell”), and suggesting that she was “so upset right now I am literally crying. Ugh. Fuck.” She also commented “dislike” to the Instagram post announcing its renewal, as well as making several other comments on social media that have since been deleted.

She did try to clarify her statement on Friday night, and then went a step further on Saturday and provided a full statement, basically explaining that she was super bummed because the renewal of Fresh off the Boat would mean that she couldn’t take a more “challenging role.” While she did concede that she likes working her “pleasant” and “easy” job on Fresh Off the Boat, she said she was heartbroken to lose out on another role. Wu apologized and admitted her words were ill-timed and insensitive, before ending the statement with another inexplicable line, “It’s meaningful when you make the choice to believe women,” an unnecessary reference to #MeToo in a situation that had nothing to do with #MeToo.

I’m not going to pile on Wu here, because social media took care of that over the weekend, but I guess I would say that the timing really was horrible, given the fact that so many other people were lamenting the cancellation of their own shows, as in the case of Scott Foley and his wife Marika Dominczyk.

Or the cast of Speechless:

Or The Kids Are Alright:

The heartbroken reactions from the cast and crew on canceled TV series sort of puts Wu’s reaction into context. On the other hand, at least some of those whose shows were renewed (or picked up) reacted with a sense of humor.

(Go Kal Penn!)

(Go Alison Tolman!)

(These renewals weren’t a surprise, but good for them!)

Exactly!

Hat Tip: THR

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