With one sentence, actress Constance Wu turned an apology for a minor incident into a controversy of its own.
Last week ABC announced “Fresh Off the Boat,” the sitcom in which Wu stars, was renewed for a sixth season. Wu reportedly commented “dislike” on the announcement and tweeted out a flurry of frustrations, including, “So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh.”
Fans were understandably confused that one of the show’s leads would express devastation at the news of renewal. So Wu clarified the next day with a statement on Twitter, saying, “I was temporarily upset yesterday not bc I hate the show but bc its renewal meant I had to give up another project that I was really passionate about.”
That may not totally make up for an expletive-riddled tirade about what should be good news, but it’s enough to shrug off her inappropriate behavior. Then, Wu had to make everything worse by emphasizing that she had conflicted feelings about the show, adding, “It’s meaningful when you make the choice to believe women.”
These words are my truth. I hope you hear them pic.twitter.com/l6SvbFcUlj
— Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) May 11, 2019
The phrase “believe women” has been a mantra of the #MeToo movement, a call to believe survivors of sexual assault rather than those they accuse. By evoking it, Wu seems to imply an assault accusation that she never comes out and makes, and may not have intended to make.
Readers responded with shock and disappointment that Wu would equate her non-apology with a story of sexual assault.
“I believe women,” one reader wrote, “I just don’t believe *you*.”
It’s no wonder Wu thought she could use “believe women” to defend “my truth.” Unfortunately, “believe women” has often taken the role of a universal feminist mantra. It was never intended to mean that all women always tell the truth about everything.
The phrase became a rallying cry during the hearings on now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, where the press and the public appeared to forget the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.” Sexual assault accusations should be considered carefully and deliberately, but the botched Kavanaugh proceedings, based on wholly uncorroborated allegations based on events decades earlier, actually hurt the #MeToo movement.
That said, “believe women” is a good default stance for cases of sexual assault. It’s actually difficult to make up sexual assault allegations that can withstand scrutiny. And the act of coming forward with an accusation, if true, is much more painful for the accuser.
But when you simply demand that we “believe women” at all times, you prepare yourself to ignore that women lie and make ridiculous excuses when caught in bad behavior at a rate not too different from that of men. “Believe women,” whether in the context of sexual assault or a celebrity apology, distracts from the truth of the situation and drives it to identity-driven confusion.
[Read more: Alyssa Milano’s ‘I believe’ Kavanaugh accuser becomes ‘we can’t assume’ Biden guilt]
