In a time when saying anything can cause outrage on social media, Jurassic Park veteran B.D. Wong found himself caught in a more dangerous situation than facing down extinct reptiles after making a remark on Threads that was deemed a “racist comment” by many users. This has led the actor to issue a lengthy double apology for making what he said was a “super dumb” response to a “Wrong Answers Only” post.
Wong added a comment to a post by Mike Holston, which was captioned “Name this animal…wrong answers only” and featured Holston with a furry critter. In response to the post, Wong wrote, “It appears to be a Black man.” The backlash on the comment quickly followed, and Wong deleted his post, and shared an apology for “a very bad joke”
Wong, who has appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows including Mr. Robot, said in his own post:
“Y’all I made a very bad joke. As most people in hot water do, I deleted it for Damage Control but it’s out there & continues to hurt & disappoint & I’m really sorry about the hurt part. Super dumb, but I tried to follow the “Wrong Answers Only” prompt w/the wrongest answer.
“This succeeded only in that it was Super Wrong. I know nobody gets a free pass. I’m sorry if this #wtfbd moment tarnished any respect you may’ve had for me. & thanks if you advocate for an internet that’s safe for everybody.”
Several of Wong’s followers noted that they understood he was attempting to make a joke, but also pointed out that the world we live in now is “incendiary and words and deeds have meaning and consequences.” However, the thread soon filed with polarizing views. One fan said, “I’ve been following you long enough to know you have a twisted but very humane sense of humor. I laughed and thought, “I can’t believe he said that” and then moved on to another post. I’m sorry you’re getting heat.” Another took a different stance, saying: “I hope you truly understand how entirely hurtful that was to our community! Especially those of us who were HUGE fans of your work ! So so sad!!!”
Wong followed this up with a second message a short while later, which said:
“I want to elaborate on a racist comment I posted, to clarify that I recognize & accept the responsibility for how terrible it is. It’s also 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; I do know better, but again no excuses. Very sorry for the hurt I’ve caused & for taking lightly something so deeply injurious.”
Right now, social media is one of the worst places in the world for anyone of any status or celebrity to be. Every comment is scrutinized, and every word is looked at, screenshot, and potentially weaponized for potentially being viewed as offensive. While many comedians would make exactly the same joke as Wong, their punishment would be a few chastising reviews from those offended, but in the main would be seen as “part of the act.”
Wong realized very quickly that the context of social media comments is frequently lost, especially when there are always people willing to view anything to do with race, religion or politics as being intended to be inflammatory or derogatory without exception. The actor’s intentions were clearly not to hurt in any way, but like the recent issues faced by Guy Pearce over posts deemed to be antisemitic, or the firing of Melissa Barrera from Scream 7 over her views on the Gaza war, it doesn’t usually make a difference what the intention behind it actually was.