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Former director and filmmaker Robby Starbuck has slammed Simu Liu after the Marvel star criticized Asian representation in Hollywood in a recent social media post. It also mentioned reports of other Asian actors struggling to find work in the industry. On Sunday, November 23, Liu took to Threads to highlight the alleged issue.
"Put some Asians in literally anything right now. The amount of backslide in our representation onscreen is f*cking appalling. Studios think we are risky," he wrote.
The Canadian actor listed movies with Asian casts, including Minari, Past Lives, Crazy Rich Asians, Farewell, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, starring Liu himself. Referring to these projects, he concluded:
“Every single one a financial success. No Asian actor has ever lost a studio even close to 100 million dollars but a white dude will lose 200 million TWICE and roll right into the next tentpole lead. We’re fighting a deeply prejudiced system. And most days it S*CKS.”
On November 29, Starbuck criticized the Marvel superstar's comments in a post on X. He compared Hollywood's representation of Asian actors to the sparse depiction of Caucasian stars in films produced in China.
Starbuck's response to Liu's claims has divided the internet. Although many X users support the ex-filmmaker, some have tweeted in support of Liu's claims. The post has received nearly 130k impressions and 3.2k likes so far.
"I probably should be more scared": Simu Liu opens up about social media backlash
Simu Liu opened up about his alleged outspoken nature and the social media backlash he faces during an interview with Variety (published on November 14, 2025).
“I probably should be more scared of it," he started.
The Shang-Chi star openly shared his thoughts on social media and the mindset behind criticizing others online.
“I just feel like there’s something about the internet that makes people just crazy. There’s something about the publicness of it and where people love being the guy to put someone else down [or] put an entire group of people down. I am so not for that energy," continued the 36-year-old.
During the conversation, Simu Liu also criticized the internet, saying it shouldn't exist in his idea of a perfect world.
“My god, the internet doesn’t exist. Maybe phones don’t exist…Everyone is talking to each other. And more important than that, everyone is listening to each other and people lead with acceptance and curiosity and they’re not leading with, ‘I’m gonna try to dunk on this person on social media so that I get likes.’ They’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re all stuck here together so let’s just figure out a way to get along and not kill each other while we’re at it.’”
Simu Liu concluded the discussion by speaking highly of Melissa Barrera. For those not familiar, the 35-year-old was removed from the Scream franchise in 2023 due to her alleged pro-Palestine posts, which were considered antisemitic.
“That is like the bravest woman I have ever met and the most outspoken and most fearless and the most assured in what she believes in is right. Regardless of whether or not you agree with her or everything she has to say, you can’t not respect that," Simu Liu said.
Barrera is also Simu Liu's co-star for the upcoming series, The Copenhagen Test.
Simu Liu speaks about singing with Cristin Milioti for Netflix's In Your Dreams
During the conversation with Variety, Simu Liu also shared details about starring in Netflix's new family drama, In Your Dreams, alongside Cristin Milioti. Directed by Alex Woo, the animated comedy-drama premiered on Netflix on November 14, 2025, a week after its limited theatrical release.
The film follows two siblings and a mythical creature called Sandman. The siblings see the Sandman in their dreams and ask him to keep their parents together after they suspect a split is coming. In the film, Liu and Milioti also teamed up to sing the original song, The Holding On and the Letting Go. Reflecting on his collaboration with the actress, Liu said:
“I don’t think I signed on knowing that we were gonna do an original song, but we did, and I got to do it with Cristin, which is so amazing. She’s a fantastic singer, like Broadway level.”
The music video for the song was released on November 19, 2025. In just over 9 days, it has amassed over 10k views.
