Constance Wu reveals alleged sexual assault in memoir excerpt

In an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir “Making a Scene” shared with Vanity Fair, Constance Wu details an alleged sexual assault she experienced in her 20s.

The incident allegedly occurred when Wu was on a second date with a man she calls “Ty,” a 36-year-old aspiring novelist. Ty told Wu he had a gift for her back at his place, which he did: a box the size of a throw pillow wrapped in brown paper with a red silk ribbon.

Kissing between the two escalated, and Wu allowed Ty to take off her clothes and touch her.

“He felt me between my legs, and I shyly pushed him away, but he could feel my arousal. He smiled and got a condom from his nightstand. He took off his pants and started putting the condom on—an obvious signal for sex—which I did not want. So I said, ‘Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I’m not ready to have sex with you,’” she wrote.

“I said it clearly. But he merely smiled, as if he knew better, as if my vagina’s wetness was more telling than the words coming out of my mouth. He gently got on top of me and held my face in his hands. He kissed my lips, my forehead, and looked into my eyes. He was being so tender. I repeated, as seriously as I could, ‘Really, I’m not ready for sex,’ my face flushing. He smiled at me again like I was a baby kitten, held me close, kissed me, gently moved my legs apart, and then he . . . did it anyway.”

Later, she detailed that the gift box from Ty included “an original twenty-page medieval fantasy” in which Wu was the central character, a princess warrior.

It wasn’t until “Crazy Rich Asians” concluded filming that the memory of the incident came flooding back: “Ty raped me. He raped me, and I hadn’t done anything about it.” Wu explained she couldn’t say the word “rape” to her therapist and was surprised at herself for forgetting it happened until 10 years later.

“Instead, the memory came back after I’d just finished a movie that would go on to be a huge success. I had money in the bank, I’d paid off all my debts, I had a steady TV job I was returning home to. I’d spoken at colleges and on panels where people came to hear me and listened to what I said. I think that’s why the memory decided to resurface then. Because it was finally safe. I was financially and professionally secure. I’d reached a place in my life where people actually listened to me” she continued.

“I did not consent to sex. Maybe it wasn’t violent, but it was rape. Period.”

Wu’s excerpt coincides with her return to social media and her allegations that a “Fresh Off the Boat” senior producer, referred to in her book by the initial “M,” sexually harassed her. Jeff Yang, journalist and father to Hudson Yang, who played the character Eddie on the show, tweeted he recalled Wu coming forward to tell him of an incident on set but regrettably did not address her allegations at the time.

“Making a Scene” is scheduled for release on Oct. 4.

Feature Image via The Atlantic

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