The Boys actress Karen Fukuhara has come forward with alleged details of a random and violent encounter with a man that mirrors the troubling wave of anti-Asian violence in cities across the United States.
“I rarely share about my private life but something happened today that I thought was important,” Fukuhara detailed on Instagram. “I was walking to a cafe for some coffee and a man struck me in the back of my head. It came out of nowhere. We made no eye contact before, I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. It came to my surprise and my hat flew off. By the time I looked back, he was a few feet away from me (he must have kept walking after hitting me).”
TVTVFukuhara said she considered confronting the man, but he started coming in her direction, so she deduced it wasn’t worth the risk. “After a few seconds of staring at each other, and him yelling at me, he eventually walked away,” continued Fukuhara, who said it was the first time she’s been harmed physically by another individual, although she’s fielded racial slurs and hurtful actions in the past.
One reason she opted to share this particular encounter is that she has multiracial friends who “had no idea these hate crimes happen to everyday, regular people — people that they share meals with. I felt it was important to raise awareness.”
Fukuhara added: “What satisfaction are these perpetrators getting from hitting women, Asians, the elderly? They need to be held accountable.”
A lot of people have been posing the same questions in recent months amid a spike of anti-Asian violence and targeted attacks, many of them senseless and random. On Friday, a 67-year-old woman in Yonkers, New York, was punched more than 125 times and stomped on seven times by a complete stranger who, police say, acted out of anti-Asian bias. He was charged with attempted murder and assault, both hate crimes, per The New York Times.
Fukuhara’s post drew a wave of supportive comments from her nearly 1 million followers, including many of her The Boys castmates. “F this person!! Hope you’re ok this is awful,” wrote Chace Crawford, with Jack Quaid offering, “Karen thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry that happened to you. Love you. Here if you need anything.” Laz Alonso shared, “This pisses me off. Wish I was there….”
Fellow actors like Olivia Munn, Jay Hernandez and Jamie Chung also reached out. “I’m so grateful you’re safe,” Munn posted, with Hernandez writing, “This makes me so f**king angry. So sorry this happened to you. For anyone who doesn’t know, Karen is literally one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Absolutely shameful that this shit happens.”
Fukuhara did not say whether she planned to file a police report. The Hollywood Reporter reached out to a rep for the actress, who confirmed the incident happened in Los Angeles.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Karen Fukuhara (@karenfukuhara)
