The drama began on Friday, when the actress seemingly slammed the renewal of her comedy series.
ABC is officially weighing in on the Constance Wu debacle.
The drama began on Friday afternoon, when the Crazy Rich Asians star posted a series of NSFW tweets (and an eyebrow-raising "Dislike" comment on Instagram) openly criticizing the sixth season renewal of her comedy series, Fresh Off the Boat, which will air Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT this fall.
Following the uproar over her comments, Wu posted a lengthy statement explaining her Twitter outburst on Saturday, saying she was "conflicted" over the show's pickup and "temporarily upset... not [because] I hate the show but [because] its renewal meant I had to give up another project that I was really passionate about."
On a press call with reporters ahead of the Disney Upfront presentation, ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke addressed the controversy for the first time and whether there have been discussions to recast her as matriarch Jessica Huang.
"No, there has been no thoughts on recasting Constance. We love what she does on the show and we love the show," Burke said Tuesday morning.
"I did actually know that Constance had another opportunity that, had Fresh Off the Boat not gone forward, she would have pursued. But we never really considered not bringing back Fresh Off the Boat," she said. "The show is just too strong and we love it."
"I'm going to choose to believe Constance's most recent communication about the show -- that she is happy to return," Burke continued. "The cast and crew is happy to have her back and we're thrilled to keep her with the show."
Wu, 37, posted a series of stunning NSFW tweets Friday afternoon, less than one hour after ABC renewed the Asian-led comedy for another season.
"So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh. F**k," Wu first wrote. The 37-year-old actress followed that up with another NSFW tweet, writing, "F**king hell."
Shortly thereafter, Wu posted another tweet attempting to explain her previous tweets.
"That was not a rampage, it was just how I normally talk. I say f--- a lot. I love the word," she wrote. "Y’all are making a lot of assumptions about what I was saying. And no, it’s not what it’s about. No it’s not..what this is all about. Stop assuming."
On Friday evening, Wu claimed in a new tweet that her previous remarks had nothing to do with the renewal of her ABC sitcom, but rather the culmination of a "rough day" she was having and "ill timed w/the news of the show."
"Plz know, I'm so grateful for FOTB renewal. I love the cast&crew. I'm proud to be a part of it," she wrote.
Randall Park (Ant-Man and the Wasp, Always Be My Maybe) also stars in the half-hour series, whose ensemble cast includes Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen, Lucille Soong, Ray Wise and Chelsey Crisp.
Fresh Off the Boat, which premiered in 2015, recently became the first Asian American comedy to reach syndication. The series, based on chef and author Eddie Huang's memoir of the same name, skyrocketed Wu and Park to stardom. Huang, whose life inspired the series, has since distanced himself from the comedy, saying in 2015 on Twitter that he "doesn't watch #FreshOfftheBoat" and "doesn't recognize it."
Last year, Wu experienced monster success with Crazy Rich Asians, based on Kevin Kwan's popular novel, which catapulted her to become one of the most-sought after Asian American actresses currently working. She recently wrapped Hustlers opposite Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B.
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