‘The Boys’ Actress Karen Fukuhara Describes Anti-Asian Hate Crime Attack, Co-Stars Show Support

Karen Fukuhara, who’s best known for her work on 'The Boys,' was attacked outside of a coffee shop, in what she said was an anti-Asian hate crime.

Karen Fukuhara photographed at SXSW
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Image via Getty/Astrid Stawiarz

Karen Fukuhara photographed at SXSW

Karen Fukuhara, who’s best known for her work on The Boys, was attacked outside of a coffee shop, in what she said was an anti-Asian hate crime.

“I rarely share about my private life but something happened today that I thought was important,” Fukuhara wrote 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).”

Though Fukuhara didn’t divulge where the incident happened, she did say that she thought about confronting the man, though decided it wasn’t worth it. “After a few seconds of staring at each other, and him yelling at me, he eventually walked away,” she wrote. She also noted that while this is the first time she’s been physically accosted by another person, she has been the recipient of racial slurs before.

Fukuhara posted about the attack because she has “multi-racial 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.”

“What satisfaction are these perpetrators getting from hitting women, Asians, the elderly?” she asked. “They need to be held accountable.”

She captioned the post with the hashtag #stopasianhate.

Fukuhara’s co-stars from The Boys also chimed in, with Chace Crawford writing, “F this person!! Hope you’re ok this is awful.” 

Jack Quaid wrote, “Karen thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry that happened to you. Love you. Here if you need anything.” Laz Alonso also commented, “This pisses me off. Wish I was there….”

In recent years, Asian Americans have been increasingly the target of hate crimes, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last August, the nonprofit organization Stop AAPI Hate released a national report that showed over 9,000 hate incidents have occurred against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders since the pandemic’s outset.

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