Simu Liu Faces Criticisms After People Uncover His Reddit History

Simu Liu, star of the new Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, trended on Twitter last night after users uncovered his Reddit history and took umbrage with several of his posts.

The controversy appears to have started when Twitter user @CinnabonMonster posted a tweet calling Simu Liu the "celebrity ringleader" of the "Men's Rights Asians" movement after Slate published an article about the movement and its home on Reddit.

Fuck it. The person in question is Simu Liu.

— Edward Hong #FreePalestine #TaiwanIsACountry (@CinnabonMonster) September 16, 2021

Liu has indeed posted on /r/aznidentity, which was named in the Slate article as "the unofficial hub" for Asian incels and MRAs. The fact Liu posted there at all was a red flag for some, though it appears the only posts he made in the subreddit were in a thread discussing his television show Kim's Convenience. Other posts called into question are from /r/AskReddit threads where he says terrorists tick him off and one where he said women aren't as good as men at sports and that he gets frustrated when girls play on his volleyball team.

/u/nippedinthebud appears to be Simu Liu's archived Reddit account

It shows him commenting in the racist incel subreddit called into question (among other things) pic.twitter.com/SXyoKu2Kaf

— Neb | 🏳️‍🌈 (@NebsGoodTakes) September 17, 2021

In another post that circulated widely, Liu says he once had to play a pedophile and when studying for the role, developed compassion for people with the condition. In his post, he says that pedophilia isn't that different from being gay, asserting "everyone deserves sympathy," and it's not a black-and-white condition.

simu is legitimately like pic.twitter.com/9Jad4p1UWq

— 🦋 (@XMENMAGlK) September 17, 2021

There have also been accusations that Liu is "anti-black," but there appears to be no evidence in his Reddit history to support those accusations. In fact, while accusations of racism and MRA behavior began spreading on Twitter, other users began doing a deep dive into Liu's Reddit history and suggested that the evidence therein doesn't support the accusations being lobbed at Liu.

Twitter user @katie_bee__ was among several users who went through Liu's entire Reddit history and offered some context on the circulating screenshots. User @LPCantLose posted a similar thread, coming to a similar conclusion that Liu was being attacked unfairly.

Other than that one time, I did not see a single comment from Simu on the aznidentity sub. He was not some big supervillain ringleader. Just an actor hopping in to sell his project that one time (which he occasionally did in other subs too). #SimuLiu

— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021

1) 2014, the "girls playing sports" one. Context: It's an AskReddit post asking about "asshole things you say or do". He knows it's an asshole thing. #SimuLiu pic.twitter.com/bPpWzhaiV6

— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021

2) 2015: Answering another AskReddit question, "What is something people do that makes you instantly despise them?," he describes things terrorists do and is frustrated by the "first world problems" being offered as answers by others. #SimuLiu pic.twitter.com/VSOmIOi0TC

— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021

These posts were a lot more involved than the throwaway AskReddit comments. Simu was earnestly engaging with a complex topic about how best society can protect children, set in the context of Germany's pedophile treatments. #SimuLiu

— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021

There's nothing else THERE there. Now, I have not gone through Simu's 12,000 tweets, because hell no I don't have that kind of time. But the dark insinuations going around about #SimuLiu's old Reddit account showing him to be a misogynistic racist MRA ringleader are false.

— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021

At the time of writing, Liu has yet to directly address the conversation surrounding his Reddit history, but he seems aware of it. While the conversation was going on, he boosted a 2019 tweet in which he advocated for positivity.

Oh cool this is here

— Simu Liu (刘思慕) (@SimuLiu) September 17, 2021