Ali Wong’s divorce news marred by wrong photo

Two publications made an egregious mistake when they announced a simple story about a celebrity divorce.

As if the indignity of having to make public your marriage breakdown wasn’t bad enough, imagine if media outlets then mistake your co-star for your estranged husband?

Comedian and actor Ali Wong’s representatives confirmed to People magazine she and her husband of eight years, Justin Hakuta, are divorcing, and soon after at least two media outlets – Parade and MSN – accompanied the news with the wrong photo.

Both publications tweeted out a photo of Marvel star Randall Park instead of Mr Hakuta. Park was Wong’s co-star in Always Be My Maybe, the Netflix rom-com she and Park co-wrote with Michael Golamco.

Parade tweeted out a photo of Wong and Park at the premiere of Always Be My Maybe while MSN used just a photo of Park.

Social media users were quick to point out the mistake, using the hashtag #wrongasian.

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Come on! Can we not ruin the news of Ali Wong’s divorce with Wrong Asian racism? pic.twitter.com/87SZ21cVQ7

— 👁 Phil Yu (@angryasianman) April 12, 2022

And then you’ve got MSN over here with a photo that is neither Ali Wong nor Justin Hakuta. #wrongasianpic.twitter.com/dl3fdwwWfi

— 👁 Phil Yu (@angryasianman) April 13, 2022

Both outlets later deleted the tweets. Parade said: “We understand how hurtful this photo mistake was and the impact it can have and we sincerely regret it. We would like to apologise to Ali Wong, Justin Hakuta, Randall Park and everyone who may have been hurt by our error.

“We will implement strong measures going forward to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Wong has talked about her marriage in her stand-up shows including Baby Cobra, Hard-Knock Wife and Don Wong, as well as in her book Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets And Advice For Living Your Best Life.

In Don Wong, Wong joked that she frequently thought about cheating on her husband.

Ali Wong with Justin Hakuta. Picture: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix

She and Mr Hakuta met in 2010 at the wedding of a mutual friend and married in 2014. They have two daughters, Mari and Nikki. Mr Hakuta does not work in the entertainment industry.

Wong has had a prolific career in recent years. In addition to her stand-up, she has had roles in Inside Amy Schumer, Big Mouth, Tuca & Bertie and Birds Of Prey.

Park is best known for his leading role in sitcom Fresh Off The Boat and in films including Aquaman, Office Christmas Party and as Kim Jong-un in The Interview. He plays FBI agent Jimmy Woo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having appeared so far in Ant-Man And The Wasp and WandaVision.

Originally published as Ali Wong’s divorce news marred by wrong photo