Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu is not denying that he wrote a 2015 Reddit post saying pedophilia is “no different than being gay,” and that after doing a “significant amount of research” on pedophilia, he has become “much more sympathetic to anyone who is born with those urges.”
The Reddit account has since been deleted, according to a report by TMZ. However, the post appears to have been archived, among many other posts made by an account named “nippedinthebud,” which repeatedly identified itself as “Simu” and even “Simu/Jung,” to indicate the poster was the actor who starred in the sitcom Kim’s Convenience in a community that discussed the show.
“I recently did a show in which I played a pedophile, and did a significant amount of research,” the post read. “In the end the role completely changed the way I look at pedophilia and has made me much more sympathetic to anyone who is born with those urges.”
“From a biological standpoint it’s no different than being gay — a small mutation in the genome that defines our sexual preferences,” the post continued. “Depending on what area of the world you were born and what time, it also may have been a perfectly acceptable thing to act on those urges.”
The post went on to affirm that while “we all know that taking advantage of minors is wrong,” society is addressing pedophilia in “completely COMPLETELY the wrong way.”
“It’s like we [haven’t] learned anything by studying homosexuality — we’re talking about exploring the same ‘cures’ to pedophilia as we were about homosexuality 20 years ago, a la conversion therapy and whatnot,” the post read.
From there, the post went on to say that pedophiles have “nowhere to turn” with regards to seeking “treatment,” because “the therapist or psychiatrist would be legally required to report” them.
Liu took to social media on Thursday to write that “Twitter is a slanderous place sometimes, and it feels good to shut down trolls and bad faith actors who want to drag your name through the mud.”
Liu appeared to be reacting to social media users who have been circulating the purported screenshots of the Reddit posts. However, neither he nor any representatives have denied authorship of the pedophilia comments after the story was picked up on prominent entertainment and LGBTQ news sites.
On Thursday, Liu also tweeted, “Oh cool this is here” as a reply to a tweet he posted in April 2019, in which he claimed to be an “advocate” for “positivity” only.
“Just a reminder that I do not ever EVER advocate for anything other than positivity,” Liu wrote at the time. “Positive cultural pride, positive iterations of Asian masculinity and femininity — that means WE DON’T PUT EACH OTHER DOWN.”
“Direct your frustration at the system that did this to ALL of us,” the actor added in his tweet.
On that same day in 2019, Liu appeared to suggest that he has previously made potentially offensive posts, tweeting, “DISCLAIMER: If you dig back far enough, I’m sure you’ll find a more immature version of me who gave in to anger and hate.”
“It doesn’t make me a hypocrite; it makes me a human being. Mentalities evolve. We shift and we grow. And I want us all to grow the right way,” he added.
Shang-Chi, Liu’s first starring role in a major motion picture, has topped the U.S. box office for the past three weeks in a row.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.