‘Barbie’ Actor Allegedly Said Pedophelia is ‘No Different than Being Gay’ in Deleted Reddit Post
The makers of “Barbie” are under fire after allegations arose that actor, Simu Liu, had ties to a Reddit account that made several concerning statements, including comparing pedophilia to “being gay.”
The “Barbie” movie’s $150 million ambiguous marketing campaign sent droves of people to the theatres, grossing $775 million in revenue since its release. “None of us really knew what the movie was about, but we still went,” one author explained. However, new allegations that an actor in the movie made several problematic comments regarding women, race, and pedophilia have keyboard warriors investigating the claims.
Simu Liu, who played one of many “Kens” in the movie, has been accused of owning the controversial Reddit account, u/nippedinthebud, which has since been deleted. According to Evie Magazine, “Marvel fans found an account belonging to u/nippedinthebud with Simu Liu’s name reportedly attached to it.”
Screenshots posted to Twitter reveal that the account wrote a troubling statement about pedophilia, claiming that it isn’t much “different than being gay.” The post from u/nippedinthebud began by explaining that the writer had “done a fair amount of research for a role,” and clarified for readers by stating, “I’m an actor.”
“… The role completely changed the way I look at pedophilia and has made me much more sympathetic to anyone who is born with those urges,” the Reddit post explained. “From a biological standpoint it’s not different than being gay – a small mutation in the genome that defines our sexual preferences. Depending on what area of the world you were born and what time, it also may have been a perfectly acceptable thing to act on those urges.”
The post continued, condemning those who act on “those urges,” stating, “We all know that taking advantage of minors is wrong. Disgusting and vile, even,” but claimed that “we are going about it completely COMPLETELY the wrong way.”
Evie Magazine further explains, “The person appeared to have visited incel subreddits, according to screenshots. It’s important to note that Liu has not addressed these comments, nor has he confirmed that it was his account.”
According to research done by the Advocate, the Reddit account posted Liu’s headshot to another subreddit to “ask for feedback.” Additionally, the account alleged to belong to Liu created an “Ask Me Anything” thread, identifying Liu as the owner. The Daily Dot stated that “Two separate archives of u/nippedinthebud (one from 2014, the other from 2017) appear to confirm that the account did belong to Liu.” Others have found archived posts from the user also contained a link to the photo-sharing platform Imgur, which led to images of Liu, which have since been taken down.
Simu Liu’s most recent role in the “Barbie” movie sparked a new round of debates online, causing several people to shame the user’s comments from several years ago. Liu has not publicly confirmed or denied the allegations that the Reddit account belonged to him.
