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Somewhere along the way, deserved or not, perhaps in desperate search of a scapegoat for their Marvel Cinematic Universe-related frustrations, the culture seemingly decided they don’t like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu.
It would appear, however, that there may be some truth to whatever public perception there is about Liu, as a video of Barbie star Ryan Gosling brutally punking him while on the red carpet has been going viral.
You asked for it! Here’s the full clip of Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu interacting on the #Barbie movie red carpet in Toronto 💕 The Kenmance is strong 💪 pic.twitter.com/D8uoWbCR0P
— Etalk (@etalkCTV) July 26, 2023
Clearly annoyed with Liu placing his hand on the small of his back, Gosling turned to him and made a comment about it. Liu, perhaps trying to embarrass Gosling in return, loudly replied by saying “That’s too tender, you think?”
The entire exchange is incredibly cringeworthy — especially when you consider how largely affable Gosling has seemed during the massive Barbie press tour — and has therefore prompted quite a response on social media.
Oh I'd literally never show my face again https://t.co/SoGUAsQO55
— Aidan (@aidanthereup) July 25, 2023
Ryan has seen those Reddit posts https://t.co/uArS5Prc4u
— Patrick Fisackerly (@fisackerly) July 25, 2023
mr. ‘you are kenough’ telling you to back up 😭😭😭 https://t.co/xwxUOVXAOL
— jay (@kendallhosseini) July 26, 2023
never want to see this video again yet can’t stop watching it
what’s this guy’s deal? does he really suck that bad? the evidence is damning https://t.co/sJE2g8B6Rs
— Eric Italiano (@eric_ital) July 26, 2023
Some movie fans have also pointed out that Margot Robbie said that Simu is the cast member that’s most like his character in the film, which certainly isn’t a compliment once you’ve seen the movie.
https://twitter.com/FiftyBarbie/status/1684091449023889408
while i was seeing barbie, all i could think about was the cast agreeing simu was most like his character, and how that’s an insult. https://t.co/y9qL5ZZNr2
— noa 🍉 (@thenoasletter) July 25, 2023
https://twitter.com/HugoKitano/status/1684001566729338880
the whole cast hates him 🤭 https://t.co/7R3ADEaoqW
— lex (@skatergirIs) July 26, 2023
In addition to Gosling and Liu, Barbie also stars Margot Robbie, Will Ferrell, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Emma Mackey, Kingley Ben-Air, Dua Lipa, Rhea Perlman, John Cena, Michael Cera, Helen Mirren, and more.
The film has been a historic box office success thus far, as it made $162 million domestically and another $194 million internationally during its first weekend. Combined with the haul brought in by Oppenheimer, this past weekend was the fourth biggest weekend in the history of the American box office, only trailing weekends fueled by Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.