A video clip from when Toronto-raised Simu Liu was recently a celebrity guest on an episode of Dragons' Den has gone viral for the actor's articulation of concern over cultural appropriation.
On the October 10 episode of the Canadian equivalent to Shark Tank, Liu and his fellow Dragons heard a pitch from two owners of a Quebec-based boba tea company called Bobba. They sought a $1 million investment in their product, which they sell in cans and bottles alongside ready-to-go packages of popping tapioca balls to add to the drinks.
UPDATE (10/15, 4:09 p.m. ET): The company has now issued an incredibly lengthy statement apologizing for "the harm we have caused by our words and actions on the show." "While it was never our intention to harm or disrespect the community that created and popularized this beloved drink, we take full responsibility for the impact of our actions," Bobba wrote. "Simu Liu raised very valid points regarding cultural appropriation and we welcome this learning opportunity."
"We fully understand the backlash over our feature on Dragons' Den based on what people saw on TV," the statement continued. "When we said, 'You're never quite sure about its contents,' we were not referring to the traditional bubble tea formula found in specialized shops, nor were we criticizing it. We can appreciate that this wasn't communicated effectively in the episode as English is our second language. What we were comparing it to is the other ready-to-drink products like ours found in big box stores."
TL;DR, "At no point did we mean to insinuate that our Bobba bubble tea is better than traditional bubble tea in any way," the company said.
"I'm concerned about this idea of disturbing or disrupting bubble tea," Simu said of the Taiwanese beverage, which mixes tea with milk and/or fruit and contains balls of tapioca. "Because it is something that's something very near to me. There's also an issue of cultural appropriation. There's an issue about taking something that's very distinctly Asian in its identity and quote-unquote making it better, which I have an issue with."
The Barbie star asked the Bobba owners how their product was paying respect to traditional boba, and if they had any Asian people involved in the process. The entrepreneurs said that they had Taiwanese partners who they travel to the country to consult with.
Liu remarked, "Studying the can and looking for anything that tells me where boba came from, and where boba came from is Taiwan." Unsurprisingly, he did not decide to invest in the company, noting that that would be "uplifting a business that is profiting off something that feels dear to my cultural heritage." The actor added, "I want to be a part of bringing boba to the masses, but not like this."
In the end, three other members of the panel offered to invest, and the founders chose to partner with Manjit Minhas. Check out the clip from the episode below.