Constance Wu may have been the one to make headlines at her shock regarding Fresh Off the Boat‘s season renewal, but she wasn’t the only one surprised by the news.
Series star Randall Park gave new details about the controversy during an appearance on The Big Ticket with Marc Malkin podcast earlier this week, which happened when Wu tweeted an NSFW negative response to the news of the renewal.
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“So upset right now that I’m literally crying,” she tweeted at the time. She added, “Fโking hell” and “Ugh. Fโk,” and responded to one fan calling it “great news” by saying, “No it’s not.”
“I thought that last one would be the last one, because literally, the season finale was like a bookend to the pilot,” Park said on the podcast, as first reported by TooFab. “Everyone kind of thought that and we weren’t sure if we could keep going.”
“She certainly thought that,” he added of his co-star, “She was in for a surprise and we all were.” After adding there are still “a lot more stories to tell” on the ABC comedy series, Park added he understood where Wu was coming from in the moment.
“For sure. It was kind of a thing where if it didn’t get picked up, I was prepared for it to not get picked up and I was excited for these other things I could do,” he admitted. “But if it did get picked up, I was also like, oh, all I ever wanted was a job and a regular job and to work with great people. So yeah, it’s amazing.”
Wu eventually apologized for her comments on Twitter, clarifying she was disappointed she had to give up an opportunity after news of the renewal, but still loved the show and everyone involved in making it.
“Todays tweets were on the heels of [a] rough day&were ill timed w/the news of the show. [Please] know, Im so grateful for [Fresh Off The Boat’s] renewal. I love the cast&crew. Im proud to be a part of it. For all the fans support, thank u & for all who support my casual use of the word fโ โ thank u too,” Wu tweeted, adding a kiss emoji.
She also released a lengthier explanation to her statements a few days later.
These words are my truth. I hope you hear them pic.twitter.com/l6SvbFcUlj
โ Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) May 11, 2019
The controversy happened just days before the ABC upfront presentation, with ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke clarifying to press there were no talks of replacing Wu after her negative tweets.
“There’s been no talk of recasting Constance,” she told press at the time. “We love what she does on the show and we love the show. I did actually know that Constance had another opportunity that had ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ not gone forward, she would’ve pursued.”
“I’m going to choose to believe Constance’s most recent communication about the show, that she is happy to return,” Burke added. “The cast and crew is happy to have her back and we’re thrilled to have her on the show.”
Fresh Off The Boat will return for a new season in fall 2019 on ABC.