'It wasn't violent, but it was rape': Constance Wu recalls alleged sexual assault

Constance Wu says she was raped early in her career during a date with an aspiring writer.

The actress, 40, said in her upcoming autobiography Making a Scene she managed to wipe the alleged incident from her memory for years before it flooded back when she found fame in Hollywood after shooting Crazy Rich Asians.

She said about her alleged rapist, who she named as Ty in the book — an excerpt of which has been printed by Vanity Fair ahead of its publication on Oct 4: “When Ty asked me out on a date, it felt like I had been invited to the popular kids’ table. He was 36 and he was a real New Yorker.

“Ty was tall and broad-shouldered. He had the kind of skin where you could tell he probably had freckles on his shoulders.”

She added the alleged rape took place on her second date with Ty at his apartment, saying: “He felt me between my legs, and I shyly pushed him away, but he could feel my arousal.

“He took off his pants and started putting the condom on — an obvious signal for sex — which I did not want.

“So I said, ‘Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I’m not ready to have sex with you’.”

But she said Ty continued and was being “so tender”, adding: “I repeated, as seriously as I could, ‘Really, I’m not ready for sex’, my face flushing.

“He smiled at me again like I was a baby kitten, held me close, kissed me, gently moved my legs apart, and then he... did it anyway.

“I didn’t fight back. I just... gave up... I hate that it happened.

“He wanted me to stay over. I mumbled an excuse about needing to get back to my apartment for my skin care regime.

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“I said ‘sorry’ a million times.”

She said about recalling the incident more than 10 years later: “I was on a plane from Singapore, where I had finished filming Crazy Rich Asians.

“I’d just woken up from a nap when the realisation hit me like a flood. Ty raped me. He raped me, and I hadn’t done anything about it. A strange sound involuntarily croaked out of my throat, almost a squawk.

“Embarrassed, I hoped no one on the plane heard me. My heart was pounding. For a split second, I panicked. But then I talked myself out of the panic… I did not consent to sex.

“Maybe it wasn’t violent, but it was rape. Period.”