“There’s A Line That You Shouldn’t Cross”: Simu Liu Has Spoken Out About His Viral Cultural Appropriation Concerns On The Canadian Version Of “Shark Tank”

“There’s also an issue of cultural appropriation,” he said in the episode. “There’s an issue of taking something that’s very distinctly Asian in its identity and quote-unquote ‘making it better,’ which I have an issue with.”

“What respect is being paid to this very Asian drink that has blown up around the world?” he asked. “And is it in your teas? Is it in your product development? Who is on your staff; who is on your cap table that is providing that for you?”

“I just don’t want the legacy of this segment to be pitchforks and people fearing for their safety. I think we’re starting to lose the plot of, I think, what ultimately the positive energy of this is, which is: let’s educate people. Let’s make the world a better place. Let’s make people aware that certain things aren’t okay from a cultural perspective.”

He proceeded to explain how he’s been on the other side of “internet dogpiling” before, and how it’s “one of the worst things that you can go through.”

He reminded us that nobody is perfect and everyone deserves a bit of grace, which the internet often isn’t great at.

At the end of the day, Simu expressed his wishes that social media be a more respectful place. And no matter what side of this debate you’re on, that’s something we can likely all agree with.

It continues with: “Despite our intentions, we take responsibility and are accountable for the impact that this has had. It is clear to us that we should have called upon the expertise of our Taiwanese partners to shape the ways in which we give credit to the roots of bubble tea and ensure cultural integrity by properly acknowledging its origins in Taiwanese culture.”

This apology hasn’t been super well-received, either. “This was worse than Manjit apology,” one commenter wrote.