News outlets misidentify Randall Park as Ali Wong’s soon-to-be ex-husband Justin Hakuta
By Rebecca Moon
Media outlets confirmed earlier this week that comedian Ali Wong and her entrepreneur husband Justin Hakuta are getting a divorce, but two of them used a photo of the #wrongasian.
Wong and Hakuta, both 39, met in 2010 at a friend’s wedding reception and got married in 2014. Hakuta is the son of Japanese American inventor and TV personality Ken Hakuta and was the former vice president of healthcare company GoodRx. Wong and Hakuta share two daughters: Mari, 6, and Nikki, 4.
At least two media outlets, MSN and Parade, used photos of Wong’s former co-star Randall Park instead of Hakuta in their articles.
Although Wong and Park played each other’s love interests in the romantic comedy film “Always Be My Maybe” in 2019, the two have never been confirmed to be in a romantic relationship.
Twitter users were quick to point out the mistake and criticize the outlets for failing to “do a quick search” on Hakuta, leading the hashtag #wrongasian to trend. MSN particularly faced backlash for using a photo that did not include either Wong nor Hakuta and instead only showed Park.
One user commented, “Google is quick and free!” while another suggested that the two men “don’t even look alike.”
Both publications have since updated the photos on their original articles to include Hakuta and Wong, with Parade issuing an apology on Twitter, stating that they will “implement stronger measures” to ensure that “it doesn’t happen again.”
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