BD Wong, known for his roles as Dr. George Huang in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and as Hugo Strange in the DC prequel series Gotham, has publicly apologized after making a racist joke on social media. Per Variety, popular influencer Mike Holston (@therealtarzann), made a post on Threads, showing himself with an animal on his back. The creator (who is Black), captioned the video with: "Name this animal... wrong answers only."
Wong reportedly answered with, "It appears to be a Black man." The actor then deleted his reply, and soon after posted an apology on Threads. Stating he had deleted the joke for "damage control," Wong apologized for his comments, and explained he had, "tried to follow the 'Wrong Answers Only'" instruction:
"Y'all I made a very bad joke. As most people in hot water do, I deleted it for Damage Control but it’s out there & continues to hurt & disappoint & I'm really sorry about the hurt part. Super dumb, but I tried to follow the 'Wrong Answers Only' prompt w/the wrongest answer. This succeeded only in that it was Super Wrong. I know nobody gets a free pass. I'm sorry if this #wtfbd moment tarnished any respect you may've had for me, & thanks if you advocate for an internet that's safe for everybody."
He later followed up his statement by clarifying that he was accepting responsibility for his comment, and would avoid explaining himself in favor of recognizing the severity of the situation:
"I want to elaborate [on] a racist comment I posted, to clarify that I recognize & accept the responsibility for how terrible it is. It's also wrong to try to 'explain' anything, & I think that causes a further breaking down in folks' trust. Let me please spend the energy on how wrong I know it is to exploit a despicable, racist trope in the supposed spirit of humor; I do know better, but again no excuses. Very sorry for the hurt I've caused & for taking lightly something so deeply injurious."
After the incident, some Threads users continued to comment on Wong's joke under Mike Holston's post.
Aside from his aforementioned roles, the actor is known for playing Dr. Henry Wu in the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise, and for voicing Li Shang in Mulan and its 2004 direct-to-video sequel, Mulan II. He has also appeared in projects like 1991's Father of the Bride (and its sequel), Seven Years in Tibet, The Space Between Us and Netflix's Bird Box.