Mark Wahlberg Faces Backlash After Presenting SAG Award To Asian Cast As His 1988 Hate Crime Resurfaces
Critics unleashed on Mark Wahlberg after the actor presented the SAG Award to the predominantly Asian cast of Everything Everywhere All at Once after brutally beating two Vietnamese American men decades ago, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The Ted actor, 51, violently assaulted the men in 1988 at the age of 16, knocking a middle-aged Vietnamese American man unconscious with a stick while calling him a “Vietnam f------ s---.”
That same day, Mark attacked a second Vietnamese American man, punching him in the eye and boasting about the assault during his arrest. He later claimed he was high on PCP when he committed the hate crimes.
Mark was charged with attempted murder. He pled guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to two years in jail, but he only served 45 days behind bars.
Despite serving his time, critics haven't forgotten, expressing outrage that he gave the Asain-dominated cast the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
"How ironic that Mark Wahlberg, who attacked Asians when he was a young man in Boston, announced the big winner of the #SAGAwards2023: the mainly Asian American ensemble cast of #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce Wahlberg did not seem happy,” one SAG viewer quipped.
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“Mark Wahlberg was arrested for hate crimes. He’s racist. An Asian man lost his sight after Mark beat him and another Asian man to the brink of death. Having him present an award to ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ seems extremely sinister,” tweeted another.
“I’m a @sagaftra member, and I am deeply disappointed by the @SAGawards decision to have Mark Wahlberg present an award that they had to know had a high chance of going to a mostly Asian cast. Incredibly poor taste, given his past crimes,” shared a third.
Some believe Mark did his time and should be forgiven.
“So everyone is reacting over Mark Wahlberg presenting an award to a film with a predominantly asian cast because of a crime he did over 30 years ago to an asian bec of his drug issues then served time and did peace with the offended party and turned his life around,” one person wrote in the actor's defense.
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However, the Boogie Nights star's past also includes throwing rocks and hurling slurs at Black children when he was 15, which also resurfaced when Mark posted about George Floyd's "heartbreaking" murder in 2020.