‘Law & Order: SVU’ star BD Wong apologizes for racist Instagram comment

BD Wong, best known for his role on Law & Order: SVU, has apologized for a controversial comment he made on Instagram this week, acknowledging that it was offensive and unacceptable.

The actor made the remark under a post by animal enthusiast Mike Holston, who asked followers to “Name this animal... wrong answers only” while showing a video of an exotic bearcat.

Wong’s comment read: “It appears to be a Black man,” invoking a long-standing racist trope historically used to dehumanize Black people.

Wong later deleted the comment but admitted that the deletion did not excuse his actions. In a series of posts on Threads, he called his remark “super wrong” and a “very bad joke.”

“Y’all I made a very bad joke. As most people in hot water do, I deleted it for Damage Control but it’s out there & continues to hurt & disappoint & I’m really sorry about the hurt part,” Wong wrote. 

“Super dumb, but I tried to follow the ‘Wrong Answers Only’ prompt with the wrongest answer. This succeeded only in that it was Super Wrong.”

He added, “I want to elaborate on a racist comment I posted, to clarify that I recognize & accept the responsibility for how terrible it is. It’s also wrong to try to ‘explain’ anything, & I think that causes a further breaking down in folks’ trust.”

Wong concluded, “Let me please spend the energy on how wrong I know it is to exploit a despicable, racist trope in the supposed spirit of humor; I do know better, but again no excuses. Very sorry for the hurt I’ve caused & for taking lightly something so deeply injurious.”

The actor’s apology comes amid growing scrutiny over the responsibilities of public figures on social media and the importance of acknowledging harmful content.