‘cowardly and unconscionable act’

Actress Olivia Munn says a recent online gathering dedicated to fighting anti-Asian racism was disrupted by a racist attack. 

The X-Men star on Instagram shared that she hosted a gathering of AAPI women and allies on Monday for a conversation “about how to stop anti-Asian hate,” but the event was “targeted by a Zoom bombing of horrific, violent, racially charged images and audio,” she said. 

“We were communing to celebrate, elevate and protect the AAPI community and we were subjected to a hate crime in real time,” Munn wrote. “It was a cowardly and unconscionable act.” 

Munn said that this “momentarily disrupted” the event but that it later resumed, and she vowed that “cheap tactics like these won’t stop our quest for equality, equity and to stop Asian hate.” She shared several photos from the event on her Instagram Story, include one posted by a participant who described the “traumatizing Zoom bomb,” and Munn said to those who attended the event, “We are so sorry to have gone through this traumatic experience together. We are here for you, as you are here for us.” Munn also posted statistics regarding anti-Asian racism and steps followers can take to help combat it, including donating to the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. 

Munn has previously spoken out about the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, telling NBC‘s Today last year, “The pandemic was weaponized against Asian Americans. And we have a target on our back and for some reason right now, it feels like it’s open season on us. And we need help, and we need people to care about what’s happening to us.” She also told CBS This Morning, “We have been beaten, slashed, shot, murdered, attacked, screamed at, and it feels like we are screaming into an echo chamber and no one has been hearing us.”