Simu Liu, the Marvels Shang-Chi actor, is a prime example of why it's important to delete old social media posts. Fans began sharing screenshots last week of Reddit comments that Simu Liu allegedly made many years ago. It would be an understatement to say that they weren't great.
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Although the NippedInTheBud profile, which was credibly linked with Liu via a searchable GitHub Tool that archives Reddit accounts, has since been deleted from the internet, screengrabs of posts related to the account continue to circulate online. They have caused a lot of backlash due to their content and the place they were originally written. NippedInTheBud and Liu were also accused of making sexist comments about women as inferior athletes than men and for inelegantly expressing disgust for extremism with Islamophobic overtones.
Although r/AZNidentity claims to be an anti-Asianism space (anti-Asian racism), the subreddit has a history of being a place for aggrieved men that launch coordinated attacks often against women, many of whom are Asian. They have identified themselves as race traitors in one way or another. Although none of the screenshots have linked NippedInTheBud with any other group's more vicious behavior than others, it was surprising that the account is associated with r/AZNidentity.
NippedInTheBud's digital company was not the only thing that was troubling. However, there were some comments in which pedophiles were compared to gay people. NippedInTheBud posted a comment back in 2015, when Liu would have turned 26. It described how they had done extensive research to create a show about a pedophile and how it made them more compassionate for those who are born with the same urges. It may have been acceptable to act upon those urges depending on where you were born and when.
NippedInTheBud didn't mention the specific role it was describing. However, the account appears to have been Liu. It seems that the account was talking about actors' stints on Blood and Water, a Canadian trilingual crime drama, which began in 2015. Liu played the role of Paul Xie (eldest son of a wealthy real estate magnate) who is made a suspect after Charlie (Osric Chau), dies in mysterious circumstances. The first season reveals how Paul abused Charlie as a child and how that abuse led to Charlie's addiction to drugs in later years. Charlie threatens to tell everyone about Paul's abuse, and his elder brother murders him in panic. The bulk of Blood and Water is about detective Josephine Bradley (Steph Songs), who solves the mystery.
NippedInTheBuds comments from the past are particularly troubling when placed in context of Blood and Water. This is because Paul Xie wasn't just a man with an unfortunate affliction that he didn't control. Pauls first season of the series shows him to be a manipulative liar and tries to use his position as editor at the local newspaper to get the authorities off his hands. Paul's father Li-Rong, played by Oscar Hsu, confronts him and tells him that he knew what was happening for years, but struggled to face the shame. Paul's claims of receiving help to overcome his compulsions are contrasted with his willingness to lie to his family members about the circumstances surrounding his brother's death. It all paints a picture that Paul is a tortured, but ultimately monstrous man who feels only remorse when his secrets are revealed.
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Blood and Water is thoughtfully exploring ideas about how family shame and secrecy can end up being trauma-inducing factors. It was and is irresponsible, as well as deeply homophobic, to compare queerness with pedophilia after all the research they purportedly did. Unsurprisingly, Lius made no direct statement in response to some of the questions about the NippedInTheBudAccount. The screenshots became more popular and the actor responded with a tweet to an old thread in 2019 reiterating his desire to promote positive cultural pride.
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io9 reached Disney and Lius representatives several times, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. The entire situation seems like something that Lius would want to address with concretely through a statement. However, as it stands now this is another reason why you might be better off saving these types of posts for drafts. Log off, or better yet.
Marvels Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings are now available in theaters Liu will likely reprise the role in future MCU productions.
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