TGIF Feature: ABC says Fresh Off the Boat ending has nothing to do with Constance Wu

Constance Wu was a breakout star of the series 'Fresh Off the Boat.'

ASAM NEWS

ABC entertainment president Karey Burke denied to the media at the ABC Winter Television Critics Association tour that actress Constance Wu had anything to do with the cancellation of Fresh Off the Boat.

Wu caused a stir on social media last year when she expressed her dismay that the show had been renewed a fifth season. The Golden Globe nominated actress tweeted back then “So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh. F*ck.” She later added, “F*cking hell.”

She would later explain it was a momentary reaction to losing an opportunity to work on a coveted project due to a scheduling conflict presented when ABC renewed FOTB in 2018.

In a tweet she explained that her initial reaction was because the show's renewal meant she would have to give up a project she was looking forward to doing.

"People 'assumed' that I meant I don't love and enjoy FOTB. But I do love and enjoy it. I hope you believe me," she wrote.

"These words are my truth. I hope you hear them."

After that controversy, late last year, ABC announced Fresh Off the Boat would be ending after its series finale in February.

Wednesday (Jan. 8), Burke made it clear the network holds no grudges against Wu.

“No, none whatsoever,” the Cheat Sheet reported Burke said at the TCA tour.

“Constance actually was incredible this season on the show, and we were thrilled to have her there,” said Burke, according to TV LIne. 

(Ending the series) "really was a joint decision between us and [20th Century Fox] and the creators. [We all felt] that, given the life of these characters, it was time to move on. Eddie’s graduating from high school and moving out of the house. It just felt like it’s coming to its natural story conclusion.”

The network is developing a possible spin off to Fresh Off the Boat. It will focus on an Indian American family whose daughter attends school with Eddie. The characters will be introduced in an upcoming FOTB episode and will star Vir Das as father DC and Preity G. Zinta as the mother, Meena.

ABC is not about to fire Constance Wu from FOtB

ABC

Constance Wu has received praise for her ortrayal of Jessica Huang in Fresh Off the Boat.

ABC Entertainment executive Karey Burke said that there are no plans to replace Fresh Off The Boat star Constance Wu following her recent rant on social media after it was  announced the show would be renewed for a sixth season.

Burke, speaking at the Disney press upfronts event last week, said: “There’s been no thought to recasting Constance. We love what she does on the show. I did actually know that Constance had another opportunity had Fresh Off The Boat not gone forward she would have pursued. But we never really considered not bringing back Fresh Off The Boat, it was just too strong. I’m going to choose to believe Constance’s most recent communication about the show that she’s happy to return and the cast and crew is happy to have her back.”

In no uncertain terms, on May 10, Wu tweeted her disappointment of the return of the ABC sitcom that follows the acculturation of a Taiwanese American family in a Florida suburb. 

"So upset right now that I'm literally crying. Ugh. F---." After a fan responded to Wu, writing the renewal was good news, the actress added, "No it's not." (That tweet has since been deleted, as did a comment, "dislike," Wu left on the ABC sitcom's Instagram account after it posted a photo heralding the sitcom's renewal.)

After her remarks went viral, the actress posted a pair of clarifications. The first said, in part, that the tweets came "on the heels" of a rough day and that she was "grateful" for the renewal. 

The following day, she posted a longer explanation making it clear that she appreciates and enjoys the cast and crew of Fresh Off the Boat and was looking forward to the next season. In that post she said she was extremely upset because she had looked forward to another project that she passionately wanted to do. With the series renewal, plans for that project would have to be rescheduled.

Fresh Off the Boat recently celebrated the taping of its 100th episode and will be starting its sixth season, an unprecedented accomplishment for a show featuring Asian American leads.

Wu's breakout performance as Jessica Huang, the mother of the Huang family, has been universally praised and led to her role in Crazy Rich Asians, the successful film with an all-Asian cast. The critically acclaimed movie proved to be launching pads for a number of its cast members, including Wu.

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