'The Good Place' producer in hot water for racist tweets against Asian Americans

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Megan Amram with The Good Place cast members Manny Jacinto and Jameela Jamil.

A producer and co-writer on NBC’s The Good Place, has apologized for posting offensive tweets several years ago that have resurfaced.
Megan Amram, 32, posted a long apology days after decade-old tweets from , were discovered and circulated around social media, Many of her tweets were racist towards Asian Americans.

“I would like to address some tweets from over the past decade that have been circulating recently,” Amram tweeted out late Wednesday, June 17. “I fear this will not convey everything that I want it to, but I am speaking from the heart and trying my best to communicate my sincere regret. I am deeply embarrassed and more apologetic than you can ever know.”

Cartoonist Joshua Luna tweeted in January of this year how he disliked how Filipinos are depicted throughout the series' four year run.

In her apology, posted almost six-months since her offensive tweets were discovered, Amran especially expressed her regret for offending Asian Americans. In the last four years, she has written for The Good Place, which features Filipino American Manny Jacinto and Indian American Jameela Jamil.

“My instinct is to share the varying degrees of explanation for every tweet that has offended, but I know full well there are no excuses. I will be sorry for as long as I live that I have hurt even one person, and I very much understand why my words have hurt many more. Also, I specifically would like to apologize to the Asian American community, who I have hurt most with my tweets. I very much understand why you are hurt,” she wrote.

Amran said since wrote the offensive tweets, she has grown as a person and the postings no longer reflect the person she is today.

Why it's OK for an Asian American actor to play an idiot

JASON MENDOZA is not too bright, but people love him.

“He’s not your typical hardworking nerdy Asian stereotype,” Manny Jacinto says of his role in The Good Place. “He is the complete opposite and it pushes forward a sense that not every Asian is going to be smart and hardworking.”

The writers wanted the character to be easy, going and simple minded because they noticed that "there are no dumb Asians in mainstream media," the Filipino/Canadian actor tells Mochi in an interview. Jacinto is no dummy.

Jason is "not defined by his ethnicity, so you don’t hear him speak Tagalog or Mandarin or whatever it may be. He’s really, at the end of the day, a person, just like any other individual,” says Jacinto.

In contrast to Jason, Jacinto has apparently given some serious thought about his good fortune landing the role in a hit series.  “I want to be able to inspire the next kid, the young kid, to have somebody to look up to in a sense, that they can be this or be that,” he says. “That was the biggest part for me—for Asian males specifically to not just be an Asian nerd or an Asian martial artist.”

“It really kills me how Asian males are being emasculated, especially in TV and film,” he says. “I’ve definitely been a victim of discrimination and that’s one of the biggest reasons that I stay in this game—so I can change that.”

“Bottom line: We are actors first. We are creators first. We are artists first,” he says. ”And by taking hold of that identity rather than being an Asian actor, we can do a lot more.”

This doesn't mean his background gets erased or ignored — just the opposite. Jason Mendoza gets to be Filipino/Canadian, and a huge Blake Bortles tan who has a fondness for EDM and favors the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. Like all of us, Jacinto and the character he plays are the intersection of a lot of weird and wonderful things. Why shouldn't TV show all of that?

Representation matters, Jacinto tells GQ magaine. "Seeing someone like you, with your skin color, spiritual background, age, sexual orientation, or disability is no small thing. It can inspire, change minds, and move people to act. Every role on every show gives Hollywood another chance to get it right. Not just for top talent, but for the children ... (and adults) watching and wondering if anyone sees them too."

In one episode, Jason laments to a costar played by Kristen Bell, “Everyone here thinks I’m Taiwanese. I’m Filipino. That’s racist. Heaven is so racist.”

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