"Shang-Chi" Simu Liu deleted the tweet about white actor Mark Wahlberg racially discriminating and beating people, netizens: Give up principles

Simu Liu, the lead actor of the Marvel Asian superhero film Shang-Chi, deleted a tweet criticizing Mark Wahlberg for racial discrimination and beating people, sparking criticism from netizens who believed that he abandoned his principles for the sake of acting in a movie. Simu Liu responded that his anger at the time was real, but he believed that people have a chance to correct themselves.

A few days ago, foreign media reported that Simu Liu would work with Wahlberg on the new film "Arthur the King". Later, Twitter users discovered that Simu Liu had deleted a tweet from two years ago: "Let me sort it out. When Mark Wahlberg was 16, he beat an unarmed Vietnamese man with a stick until he fell unconscious, and later tried to get the court to grant him a formal pardon on the grounds that his "life has improved"? "

The incident occurred in 1988, when the 16-year-old Wahlberg tried to steal two cases of wine at a convenience store near his home in the Dorchester section of Boston. He hit a Vietnamese man in the head with a wooden stick and, while hiding from police, punched another Vietnamese man in the face, who lost an eye in the attack. According to police reports, Wahlberg hurled racial slurs at the victims. Wahlberg was convicted of two counts of assault by battery, to which he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison, but only served 45 days.

In 2014, Wahlberg launched a clemency petition to overturn his 1988 conviction, fearing that it would affect his career. The move was controversial in the Asian American community, who claimed that Wahlberg had never apologized. In 2016, after the petition was closed, Wahlberg said he regretted seeking a clemency.

Some netizens added another incident of racial discrimination by Wahlberg. When he was 15 years old, he and his friends chased several black children, shouted "Kill that nigger", and threw stones at them.

Simu Liu responded that he chose to play King Arthur because he liked the script very much (telling the story of how a dog changes the lives of four adventure racers in the Ecuadorian forest), it matched some of his interests, and he could play a positive representative Asian man. He deleted the tweet to show a professional attitude and is working hard to create conditions for positive dialogue and action. He was indeed very angry at the time, and the criticism was real, but he also believed that everyone had room to grow, learn, and cooperate, and do the right things. Positive dialogue will eventually lead to positive actions.

Many netizens do not buy this:

"When it comes to interests, your principles can change. Elon Musk is a terrible person, but I follow SpaceX and bought Tesla. I voted for Biden, he is also terrible, but Trump is worse. So stop pretending"

"Admit it, this ugly deal is what you have to do in Hollywood, and being honest will make others respect you more."

"How can you have a positive conversation with someone who refuses to apologize for what he did and even tried to cover it up 16 years later? Maybe you can ask him outright, rather than doing the opposite by deleting the tweet to make him more comfortable and less awkward on the set."

"You let a person who might have attacked you 30 years ago turn the page just because you want to act with him. To this day, no one has been held accountable, and that's what's really scary."