Comedian David Cross is coming under fire for allegedly directing racist comments towards actress and writer Charlyne Yi.
On Sunday, Yi accused Cross of making racist remarks towards her when they first met in 2011 through her then-boyfriend, Michael Cera. Yi claims that Cross used phrases such as “Ching-chong-ching-chong” during their interaction.
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“I think about the first time I met David Cross ten years ago [and] he made fun of my pants (that were tattered because I was poor),” Yi tweeted. “Dumbfounded I stared at him speechless and he said to me ‘what’s a matter? You don’t speak English?? Ching-chong-ching-chong.’”
I think about the first time I met David Cross ten years ago & he made fun of my pants (that were tattered because I was poor). Dumbfounded I stared at him speechless and he said to me “what’s a matter? You don’t speak English?? Ching-chong-ching-chong”.
— Charlyne Yi (@charlyne_yi) October 16, 2017
“Then after he saw I was offended he asked me if I was going to fight with him karate in a southern accent,” she continued. “Then a few years later he was re-introduced to me after my comedy show with his girlfriend at the time & he said ‘Hi nice to meet you.’”
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“I will say this: I can tell the difference between this man making a joke vs condescending me. This happened 10 years ago and I sure as hell hope he’s changed (or at the very least, he’s scared enough to not be his racist self).”
“HOWEVER it is very uncool that a 40+ man was being racist towards me, being a young 20 year old woman who was clearly on the verge of tears from his first racist comment,” Yi said.
Cross, 53, says that he did not recall the meeting. He took to Twitter to respond to the situation on Tuesday.
“I have reached out to her to clear this up,” he tweeted Tuesday. “I’ve reached out to others who were there when we met as well to get verification.”
Very much. I have reached out to her to clear this up. I’ve reached out to others who were there when we met as well to get verification. https://t.co/yDuSkgngNO
— )))David Cross((( (@davidcrosss) October 17, 2017
“I would never intentionally hurt someone like that. I do not remember doing this when I met her. I do remember meeting her though,” he continued. “She was the then girlfriend of a good friend of mine and we were about to start working on a movie together.”
He added, “I am NOT accusing Charlene [sic] of lying and I’m truly sorry if I hurt her, it was never my intention to do that. I do not remember it like she remembers it (and clearly we’re quite a bit far apart on this) but I reached out to her privately and expressed that and more, including the possibility that perhaps we both are misremembering *exactly* what happened that night? Anyway, I can’t believe I have to write this but I am not a racist nor a bully and I loathe them in real life.”
