A Law and Order: SVU actor is apologizing for a Roseanne Barr-esque social media post.
BD Wong, perhaps best known for his recurring role as forensic psychiatrist Dr. George Huang on SVU, posted an apology for a comment he made on Threads Tuesday.
“I want to elaborate re a racist comment I posted,” Wong wrote, “to clarify that I recognize & accept the responsibility for how terrible it is.” He last appeared as a guest star in the premiere episode of SVU‘s current 27th season.
Wong added that it would be “wrong to try to ‘explain’ anything, & I think that causes a further breaking down in folks’ trust. Let me please spend the energy on how wrong I know it is to exploit a despicable, racist trope in the supposed spirit of humor.” Wong then claimed, “I do know better, but again, no excuses.”
The since-deleted post in question, per multiple users’ screenshots of the comment, is Wong’s reply to Black wildlife influencer Mike Holston, who prompted followers with a photo of an unidentified creature to “Name this animal. Wrong answers only.”
Replied Wong, “It appears to be a Black man.”
Wong, in addition to SVU, has also made notable appearances in Mr. Robot and the Jurassic Park franchise. As one of Hollywood’s few out gay Asian actors, he’s also known for his activism for the communities. But on Monday, backlash to his “racist” post was swift, with social media users calling it “stupid and disappointing.”
The news site Very Asian claimed that before Wong deleted the reply, he tried to explain to critics in the post replies, “Well, it said wrong answers only, but I could see why people wouldn’t get that, so I deleted it real quick, but yeah, that was the dumb idea.” The site added in an Instagram post condemning the “anti-Blackness” in Wong’s comments, “It’s not that we didn’t get it. It’s that your racism wasn’t funny.”
In his apology post, Wong concluded, “Very sorry for the hurt I’ve caused & for taking lightly something so deeply injurious.”
