Simu Liu takes aim at HuffPost article that calls him a “thirst trap” “token” Asian actor

Canadian actor Simu Liu has an incredible origin story that took him from working as an accountant in downtown Toronto (where he was unceremoniously fired) to following his dreams as an actor, landing plum roles in Kim’s Convenience, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and the new Greta Gerwig movie Barbie alongside fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling (both of whom play a version of Ken).

But it would seem that some people are not happy about his success. That has Simu particularly irked, and he took to his official Facebook page to denounce “the trashest take” published over at The Huffington Post.

On his Facebook page, Simu posted a screencap of the article as it appeared in his Facebook feed, and included his comment posted below the article. He captioned his post, “The trashest take by HuffPo. Also I'm not a 'thirst trap' I'm a f***ing actor.”

The article, entitled, “We Love Simu Liu, But He’s Not The Only Talented Asian Thirst Trap In Hollywood,” and written by an Asian-American writer, opens up with a paragraph reading, “Don’t get us wrong — we love Liu, and we’re all for an Asian king thriving. But when a single actor appears to be getting the bulk of Asian male roles in Hollywood, it starts to feel a little less like representation and a lot more like tokenism.”

The article goes on to list other Asian actors working in Hollywood today, many of them Asian-Canadian like Simu, and other possible actors to tackle the role of Ken in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.

“Way to attempt to put us against one another,” Simu’s scathing comment posted underneath the HuffPo piece reads. “What ‘bulk’ of roles are you referring to? Are there movies I’m in that I’m not aware of? Do you really think that there is a quota of ‘Asian male roles’ that is a zero sum game?”

He continues with a mic drop, “Every thing I have taken post Shang-Chi was not written Asian. We’ve been able to reshape stories to get more representation onscreen. Get your facts straight.”

A comment under Simu’s Facebook post grabbed the Kim’s Convenience star’s attention, writing, “That dude said hold up Simu got cast in TWO MOVIES???!!!? Imma need to write a thinkpiece.”

Simu replied, “yes I wish I could like this a thousand times.”

We love that Simu reminds not only the HuffPo writer but all of us that Hollywood doesn’t necessarily write roles with Asian men in mind, rather all BIPOC, Indigenous, and AAPI actors have to put themselves forward and audition for roles not written with them in mind in an effort to convince casting directors to think outside the box.

No one can deny Simu has worked hard to get to where he is today. He manifested his role in Shang Chi from a Tweet years prior, and has since hosted the Junos, graced the covers of Vanity Fair, Time, and Men’s Health, and he just walked the red carpet at the Met Gala earlier this week. 

This isn’t the first time Simu has shared his unfiltered thoughts on Hollywood hot takes on his social media. After Kim’s Convenience was canceled without warning by the CBC, he took to Facebook and Twitter to spill the tea on all the drama behind the scenes, slamming producers and a toxic work environment. 

He also has taken issue with Quentin Tarantino, calling him a ‘gatekeeper’ to Hollywood, attempting to keep Marvel superhero movies off-screens.

Fam, you should know by now! Don’t mess with Simu. He will CLAP BACK.