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“I thought I was at a Nicki Minaj concert for 20 minutes before I realised I was just watching a homeless man yell at a pigeon"

Kim’s Convenience star Simu Liu is at threat of being cancelled by Nicki Minaj fans just hours after the trailer for Shang-Chi was released.

On Monday, audiences were treated to the first glimpse of the Canadian Chinese actor as Marvel’s first live-action superhero lead in the form of a teaser trailer.

By large, the trailer was warmly received, with many expressing their enthusiasm and excitement for the Asian-cast film.

However, the internet quickly turned sour after disgruntled Minaj fans became aware of a tweet that Liu had written in 2012, which mocked the ‘Super Bass’ singer.

“I thought I was at a Nicki Minaj concert for 20 minutes before I realised I was just watching a homeless man yell at a pigeon….” Liu tweeted in 2012.

Minaj fans took Liu’s tweet as a reflection of anti-blackness. In a recent post, Liu had shared a screenshot of the United States trending with the caption, “Picking up poop when I realise we’re trending #1 in America.” One person responded, “because of your anti-blackness maybe.”

The 32-year-old actor addressed his 2012 tweet by writing a new tweet, that read, “well this was a highly dumb tweet. Looks like a dumb 23-year-old trying to sound clever.” Liu added he has since deleted the tweet.

Fans were still not satisfied, with some calling for him to apologise and others calling for him to be cancelled.

Nonetheless, many supported Liu and ridiculed cancel culture. “You don’t have to apologize king. Sure it was a dumb joke but you had a point. Ignore the senseless hate,” tweeted one person.

“People are genuinely trying to say that Simu Liu is racist because he made fun of Nicki Minaj. I swear y’all just cancel people out of boredom these days,” said another Liu fan. “Shut the f*ck up and let him enjoy his birthday.”

Others took more of a middle-ground stance, criticising Liu but also criticising the consequential hatred towards Asians.

“The way people dug up old tweets about Simu Liu the second the Shang Chi trailer dropped (which should be addressed, don’t get me wrong), but refuse to hold your white faves accountable does not sit right with me at all,” one person tweeted.

“I am not defending Simu Liu in any way, but those tweets does not give you any reasons to tell Asians to eat dogs, or tell us that we can barely see things because of our eyes,” another said.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will hit theatres on 3 September.

In other film news, Gemma Chan has demanded an apology from The Times for an article about Prince Philip containing racist language.