Lisa Chan, Actress In Pete Hoekstra China Ad, Apologizes: 'It Was Absolutely A Mistake'

WASHINGTON -- Lisa Chan, the actress who appeared in a political ad that was widely criticized for furthering negative stereotypes of Asian-Americans, has apologized, calling her participation "a mistake."

The ad, broadcast in Michigan on Super Bowl Sunday and removed from circulation later that week, showed a woman, played by Chan, bicycling through a landscape of rice paddies dressed in khakis and a yellow shirt -- apparently the reason for an unfortunate typo that labeled her as "yellowgirl" in an Internet html code.

As she approached the camera, the actress thanked "Michigan Senator Debbie Spend-it-Now" for supposedly spending too much money, in turn helping the Chinese economy.

"Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good," she said in broken and stereotypically accented English.

"I am deeply sorry for any pain that the character I portrayed brought to my communities," Chan wrote on her Facebook page, as first reported by the Angry Asian Man blog. "As a recent college grad who has spent time working to improve communities and empower those without a voice, this role is not in any way representative of who I am. It was absolutely a mistake on my part and one that, over time, I hope can be forgiven. I feel horrible about my participation and I am determined to resolve my actions."

Both Chan and Hoekstra received widespread criticism for the ad. National GOP consultant Mike Murphy called it "really, really dumb."

Stabenow, on the other hand, raised a significant amount of money as a result of backlash to the spot.

"We knew we were taking an aggressive approach on this," said Hoekstra in response to the criticism. "But this is a time where the people in Michigan and across the country are fed up with the spending, and we wanted to capture that frustration that they had with Washington, D.C. This ad ... hits Debbie smack dab between the eyes on the issue where she is vulnerable with the voters of Michigan, and that is spending."

The original ad is below:

Comments

[Richard Fairchild]

10:11 AM on 12/29/2012

in my opinion, this is really stupid. what is wrong with this commercial? nothing. really, if there is anything wrong, please explain it to me. this was bad for asians? why? because she spoke with broken English? big deal. do all anglos speak with perfect English? no. do all asians? no. there are those of every type of people who mess up the language. this means nothing. get off your high horses and start shoveling some of the muck your laying out under that apple tree. at least then we can have some good fruit. as it is, all you're doing is stirring up flies.

[Richard Fairchild]

10:07 AM on 12/29/2012

ggiui

[SkeeBee]

08:55 AM on 02/24/2012

I had originally taken her apology as genuine, even if it seemed a stretch that a Berkley grad didn't have the common sense to avoid this acting gig.
But now, seeing her sign off with a plug for her two companies of which she is president and vice president?

She seems to be cashing in on the publicity her role in this ad, and her apology, is bringing her....
Crocodile tear$ hear, my dear?
hmmm

[Moe Sislak]

05:37 PM on 02/23/2012

She will never work in Hollywood...ever.

[Mudbuddha]

08:55 PM on 02/28/2012

Are you kidding? Hollywood is incredibly sexist. Haven't you seen the steady stream of white-washed Asian roles in the last few years?

[Bklyntaco]

09:34 PM on 02/22/2012

I hope you weren't banking on being the next Lucy Liu - I'm pretty sure your career is already over.

[OldandGnu]

10:58 PM on 02/22/2012

She"ll take a "short term" hit because of the Ad, but her having done the "right thing" afterward will give her a bigger boost than any appearance in an ad alone might have.

[Moe Sislak]

05:37 PM on 02/23/2012

Yeah for youtube.

[spongeworthy06]

07:34 PM on 02/22/2012

She played a Chinese woman in China. What is so offensive about that?

[Mudbuddha]

08:59 PM on 02/28/2012

I'm assuming you're sincere in your comment - in which case you've probably haven't been listening to Asian-Americans or paying attention to racism in America.

A Chinese farmer in China would probably not speak with an American accent. In fact, she'd most likely be speaking her local dialect quite fluently...if you insist on the authenticity of the role...

[spongeworthy06]

01:15 AM on 02/29/2012

So the PC way to do this commercial would be for her to speak Chinese? Th

[Harbinger08]

05:51 PM on 02/22/2012

I feel kind of bad for Lisa Chan getting caught up in this. When you're young and just out of school we all know it's tough for anyone to pay the bills with acting. Someone offers you a gig, it can be hard to have the judgement and maturity to turn it down. I doubt she realized how it would come off until she saw the finished product, which of course she had no control over. I'd cut her a break. I know I've certainly done worse things than that in my life, and I regret it. If she shows a lifetime pattern of playing demeaning, stereotypical Asian characters, then maybe throw the book at her.

[spongeworthy06]

07:28 PM on 02/22/2012

Uh huh. when the words were coming out of her mouth, she had no idea

[Harbinger08]

09:53 AM on 02/23/2012

Oh, so it's ok when Jackie Chan does it, just not Lisa Chan. Listen, do you know anything about working as an actor when your being filmed? Take after take, trying to give what the director is asking for, and you have no control over the editing process. A lot of what young actors are trained to do is to take risks, to go outside their comfort zones, to let things happen without self-editing or second thoughts. A lot of really embarrassing things can happen. And she's only 21! It's so easy for an older director and staff to manipulate an actor that young. I hope you are always judged for your actions as severely as you seem to judge others. Can you honestly say that is the case, or are you just another smug hypocrite?

[Bryan Gaffin]

05:10 PM on 02/22/2012

Debbie Laughingnow

[ekwati]

08:42 PM on 02/22/2012

F for wonderful wit :)

[ex-eye-in-the-sky]

04:43 PM on 02/22/2012

There are plenty of actors that play serial killers, drug dealers, thieves, and lots of other creepy unsavory characters as well. But we don't ask those people to apologize for the parts they played, and for which they too received a salary. Its what they do for a living. Whatever the role is...its their profession. They're actors. However...even knowing that, when Ms Chan saw what a commotion this ad with her in it caused she stood up and apologized for her part in it. That showed me she's a lady of fine character in person. And there is no need for people to criticize her whatsoever, for doing the job she gets paid to do. All this ad does, is add a little bit more proof that Mr Hoekstra really isn't the swiftest boat in the race.

[KarateKid]

04:04 PM on 02/22/2012

Yeah, Lisa, after the you-know-what hits the fan, you make this publicist written statement. And, in what way did this ad "empower" those Asians without a voice??

[mskittykat1326]

03:50 PM on 02/22/2012

"As a recent college grad who has spent time working to improve communities and empower those without a voice, this role is not in any way representative of who I am."
_________________

- Apparently Ms. Chan has not worked in the that field long enough (no pun intended). They must have cut her a nice chunk of change to do that add if she's so very much against it. Given that she's a college student, can't find her at total fault...college ain't cheap.....

[gomezrules]

08:26 PM on 02/19/2012

It's amazing what's out there if you look...Marvel at the Dems racist use of 'gongs' and 'fortune cookies' in the ad below. But you'll never hear or read about any outrage from the usual leftist hypocrites of this life..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=lJichBWnUbU

You're welcome!

[thecid]

04:05 PM on 02/21/2012

so true. and I love using the quote from Toomey: "It's great that China is modernizing and growing." As if that's a negative thing. Democrats are some of the most racist people, especially against Asian americans. Pity for the "minority" is what they strive for.

[Baculus]

02:43 PM on 02/22/2012

Rubbish. Where is your proof for this assertion? Who has more Asian-American representatives in Congress? The Democrats -- the party who is actually sympathetic to the views of minorities.

Of course, seeing how you put "minority" in quotes, you probably have a rather questionable stance on this issue.

[Rock City]

04:38 PM on 02/22/2012

i'm left leaning and completely agree with you on this. the Toomey add is equally reprehensible and should have received the same attention and condemnation.

[truthBtold99]

08:50 AM on 02/17/2012

Here we go again. Lets personally attack the actress, call her names, make her apologize not accept the apology because we don't want to discuss the issues raised in the commercial because they were all true...

[Baculus]

03:34 PM on 02/22/2012

What issues? 2/3 of the national debt, and Republicans have long favored the sort of "free trade" which have led to labor going overseas. Democrats are also pro-labor and pro-working class, unlike the pro-corporate, pro-rich GOP.

So, no, the commercial was not "all true" at all, unless your mind has been shaped by Fox News propaganda.

[truthBtold99]

11:57 AM on 02/23/2012

lol seriously? My mind has been shaped by Fox news because I feel a certain way about this issue? IDK, so does that mean your mind is shaped by msnbc because you don't agree with me because they told you not to agree and of course you think whatever way they told you to think about this issue? That's fine w/e... I think some ppl put too much credence in what the news tells them. When you should read facts and form your own opinion from doing your own analysis- imho.
It's presumptuous to think that I form my opinion on something because a news outlet reports it(I have no idea if they did/did not report it) simply because you disagree is quite laughable and I'm beginning to see a pattern of "fox news cuz his/her view is diff than ours"

[JustinN]

03:45 PM on 02/22/2012

Well, in that case EINSTEIN, since according to you the ad is all truthy, altruistic and accurate, PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM! Knock yourselves out since it seems to be working so well!

[Truth in Progress]

04:29 AM on 02/17/2012

Ms. Chan is not an innocent victim of shady producers/directors…. Take a look at her history. Miss Napa Valley? She declared herself the title nominee to run for Miss California. The non-profit "Strive” that Ms. Chan started was originally established to pad her resume to get into Stanford/Cal. She self promotes her non-profit as a way to promote herself into a better career.

Did she takes this role as a “China Woman” without knowing the consequences? Come on, she is a Cal Grad! She should have understood what the ad meant. She surely didn’t do it just for the money. That would have compromised her principles that she pushes for “The Strive”. Or did she do it to add to her actor resume?

Even her apology was self promoting… She is a victim…. Not really. She knows the system and how to play the system. Is she sorry? You bet! Not because of what she did, but because it reduces her future options

[guriboy]

06:16 PM on 02/17/2012

21 year-old CEO.... ha.

[Jonathan Chui]

10:34 PM on 02/17/2012

I am Asian and I don't find it that offensive anyway.. they are trying to protray her as an Asian living in China, I'd say she nailed the character, we see this kind of characters in Hollywood all the time, but when politics is involved, all of the sudden it's considered offensive. I also run an online media company that outsource jobs left and right anyway. Globalization is the future and no one would pay someone a salary + benefits when they could get away with it by hiring contractors for cheap on sites like Elance and Odesk that have all these great contractors competing for jobs. When there's competitions, everyone wins.

[Oliver Clark]

02:53 AM on 02/17/2012

Overreaction, just like the conservatives did with the contraceptive affair; it was obviously about spending, not racism. They should've left out the accent, that obviously pissed off all of the Asian Americans,though I've seen Asian immigrants w/ similar accents. Oh man this is gonna destroy Pete's rep when it shouldn't have. And I feel especially bad for Lisa.

[JANE LANE]

03:16 AM on 02/17/2012

Well, except the part where the ad was completely racist.