Constance Wu says she attempted suicide after backlash over her 'Fresh Off the Boat' tweets

In a statement on Twitter, Wu said a fellow Asian actress told her she was "a blight on the Asian American community" before her suicide attempt.

• Constance Wu revealed she attempted suicide three years ago after backlash from old tweets. 
• Wu said a fellow Asian actress told her she was "a blight on the Asian American community" before her suicide attempt.
• She said that she has been taking time to focus on her mental health for the last three years. 

In her return to social media after a years-long hiatus, Constance Wu revealed she attempted to end her life three years ago after she made "careless tweets" about the TV show she was starring in at the time, "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 wrote in a statement shared to her Twitter on Thursday.

"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 continued. 

"Looking back, it's surreal that a few DMs convinced me to end my own life, but that's what happened," Wu said. "Luckily, a friend found me and rushed me to the ER."

—Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) July 14, 2022

Wu was referring to a series of tweets made in 2019 about the renewal of "Fresh off the Boat." She had expressed frustration online upon the show's renewal for another season. 

"So upset right now that I'm literally crying. Ugh. Fuck," and "Fucking hell," Wu tweeted at the time, according to Variety. 

When a user congratulated her, calling the show's renewal "great news," Wu tweeted back: "No it's not."

All of Wu's former tweets have been deleted from her account. 

She said in the statement shared Thursday that the "scary moment" made her "reassess a lot" in her life. She said she put her career aside for the last three years to focus on her mental health. 

Wu starred as Jessica Huang on "Fresh Off the Boat" for six seasons from 2015 to 2020. She's the matriarch of her Taiwanese-American family. In 2018, Wu received a Critic's Choice nomination for the role. 

The actor is currently starring in "The Terminal List" on Amazon Prime alongside Chris Pratt, playing war correspondent Katie Buranek.

Her upcoming book, "Making A Scene," is a series of essays about her childhood, finding her way in Hollywood, and defying expectations people have of her as an Asian American actor. According to Amazon, the title is inspired by a quote Wu heard often in childhood, "Good girls don't make scenes." 

In her Twitter statement, Wu said that she's making a return to Hollywood and social media after "a lot" of therapy. 

She said she wrote her book to inspire people to talk about "the uncomfortable stuff" that people in the Asian American community often find it easier to avoid. 

Wu said she wants to inspire change because she's "not poised or graceful or perfect. I'm emotional." 

"And even though I'm scared, 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," her statement ended.