Simu Liu almost had a perfect night during Friday’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game in Utah, but it seems the celebrity lookalike camera ruined his happy occasion.
The Canadian actor, who was born in China, took to Twitter to express his disappointment after the jumbotron included the “celebrity lookalike” segment, sharing a photo of him with a fan of Asian descent watching from the crowd.
It would have been fine if said fan actually looked like Liu, but that wasn’t the case at all. Simu Liu and the featured fan didn’t look anything like it, so it came across as stereotypical Asians once again. For those who don’t know, there’s this racial stereotype that all Asians look alike. While some pass it off as a joke, it doesn’t make it okay — especially at an event hosted by an organization that prides itself on being inclusive.
“I had a great time but it wasn’t cool,” Simu Liu wrote, along with a photo from the celebrity lookalike camera. Liu was part of Team Dwyane, which won the match against Team Ryan.
It remains to be seen how the NBA will respond to the controversy, but things are definitely looking bad for the league and this year’s host, Utah. The city has had problems with racism in the past, and this latest incident certainly won’t do anything to improve that reputation, despite the Utah Jazz’s efforts to do so.
It also puts quite a damper on an otherwise incredible start to the All-Star celebrations.
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