Simu Liu is pissed

[Charlesperalo]

Going to address the big complaint people are making, which is people saying he didn’t care they were white.

1. He said he started a fund which invests in minority founders, looked at the product and looked at them with a clear look of disgust and said he found it offensive. He didn’t directly say they were white, but did mention not being a minority and the product.
2. He did an entire two minute complaint on Taiwanese culture being taken here and had concern for Asian tea shops, which again really brings a subtle mention they are white.
3. Asian tea shops infuse stuff with boba tea all the time and have tried bottling it also, doing EXACTLY what these are doing and he didn’t have any offense.

If there was an Asian co-founder here, he’d not have had any issue!

[khanart]

His problem wasn’t that it was made by people who weren’t Asian. Their whole pitch is that they were fixing a “problem” with boba. At the beginning of the pitch he already thought it was kinda stupid that they were trying to fix milk tea. Now what could possibly be in a drink with the name milk tea.

[jelouswitch]

He wasn’t upset because they were white. He was uncomfortable because they said they would make this obscure Asian product better. Boba is really popular and doesn’t need any fixing especially from white people. They Also said they would take the Asian culture out of it. Imagine if some white person said the same about tacos. As a Mexican I would be piss. People need to watch the actual clip.

[PistonHonda]

A Chinese Canadian, who played a Korean in a TV show is upset that a drink that was created in Taiwan that uses Tapioca from South America is being culturally appropriated while speaking English, wearing western clothes, on a Canadian TV show.

[mynameisntactually]

this is not what he was mad about!!
he was angry because they were taking something from his culture, and "fixing it". bobba said they were "fixing" boba tea and that it was no longer going to be "ethnic".
simu liu wasnt anrgy that they were white, but that they were americanising it and implying there was something wrong with the fact that it was taiwanese

[Vilominelova]

Did you watch the whole episode?? Or did you just watch clips on YT? You left out so much, Simu had more of an issue with this company because they completely erased the asian representation from this company. The pitchers said offensive stuff like "were making it better" and "bobba is not ethic anymore" Theres a difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation .

[sabatasmia]

He wasn't mad at what they were selling. He was mad at the way they were trying to sell.

[CarysCreatesThings]

Your take on this is incredibly biased and misinformed. If you watch the full clip, he never claimed that his issue was with white people selling Boba, in fact he explicitly mentioned that this wasn’t his issue. His issue was that they claimed they were “fixing” and “improving” boba tea when there’s nothing to be fixed. There was no acknowledgment of boba’s Taiwanese origins on the packaging, and they also claimed that they were “reinventing” boba by introducing fruit boba and popping boba which have existed in East Asia for years. Even their claim that they are the first company to create an alcoholic boba beverage is false.

[YoursTrulyy]

Dude. Get your facts right before posting up dumb videos like this. This had nothing to do with those folks being white 😂

[swa]

This channel should be flaged for misinformation!

[juliettek.]

Has he ever been to Asia? We already have bottled boba, they’re also sold in cans. I just had one. This idea isn’t new.

[MadmeMilotic]

this video absolutely missed. it was simply just because they were white, but rather they took something asian and "improved" it. its cultural appropriation. Simu Liu's points were being dismissed. i acknowledge that these types of videos are clickbaity, but this was very poorly done. kinda irks me because now people are going to misunderstand the situation by this bad "news" video.

[armadilly]

I mean maybe if people actually watched tbe episode they could see how cocky and dismissive the owners and other dragons were to Simu. Like yes, no one 'owns' the concept of putting boba in drinks, but the owners were condescending as hell. "Are you tired of buying bbt without even knowing what's in it? This is a better version of boba"

[teddicusboozicus]

Bubble tea is an ancient and revered asian tradition going back hundreds of days.

[poppycartergraphics]

I used to really like your news posts, but this post was so indelibly biased. Anyone who watches the actual clip and hears others speak on it - and I don’t just mean Asian creators but others as well - know that this is stretching the truth. Saying “we don’t know what’s in other bubble tea” implies that regular boba is bad, and saying “it’s no longer an ethnic product, we’re taking the ethnic part out” is not only offensive but a blatant micro aggression. I’m not even Asian and I can see that. Anyone with working ears could see that. Maybe he didn’t have to go in on them the way he did, even though his voice was calm and level, but this was not racism and even if it was, they kind of started it. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. I don’t necessarily think they were purposefully racist either, but they were clearly ignorant and he is not responsible for them getting hate. They put their own foot in their mouth, and the masses are going to do what they want. He doesn’t owe them an apology any more than they owe him one, but he put out a statement and that’s that. At the end of the day, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it and if their business doesn’t fail, I hope they learn to speak better. At this point, they should hire a PR team and pray they don’t get dragged off the internet because people can be ruthless and simu asking people to not send hate doesn’t mean they’ll listen. A simple search on TikTok will pull up multiple explanations on why what they said was problematic. If you wanna make boba then do it, no one cares, just don’t stupidly drag the culture you’re getting the product from.

[HarperPolo]

I didn't read him as pissed. He had concerns and voiced them.

[alexandrequillien]

Either you didn't watch the full clip or you're just not that bright..or worst you dont care because of clicks and engagement.

[tinothetuna]

…do Mexicans get mad when white people make tacos? Do Italians get mad if black people make pasta?

[sainjawoof]

You totally missed the entire point of the situation!!! Good job spreading misinformation.

[arcticpenguin]

He's not mad at white people selling an asian product. He's concerned that the company isn't really respectful of the roots of boba tea. The pitch made regular boba tea out to be some mystery drink and there wasn't a hint of respect when they said that what they were making was boba but better