Charlyne Yi is an actress, comedian, and poet who recently accused David Cross of making racist comments to her when they first met. Her tweets about the incident sparked controversy for Cross during a sensitive time in Hollywood. Cross' wife, Amber Tamblyn, first took to Twitter to defend her husband, saying that he publicly apologized several times.

Sharing her story

Earlier this week, Yi took to Twitter to share her first encounter with comedian David Cross. She said the first thing he commented on when the two met ten years ago was her "tattered pants," which weren't good quality due to how poor she was.

The actress claims that she was speechless, but Cross continued to make fun of her by saying "What's a matter? You don't speak English?? Ching-chong-ching-chong." Yi was offended but remained silent, but Cross didn't. He followed his racist comment by asking if she "was going to fight with him karate."

Yi says that a few years later, she was re-introduced to him after her comedy show. Cross showed up with his wife and acted like he had never met Yi before, allegedly saying "Hi, nice to meet you."

The actress says that although the incident happened ten years ago, she is still offended by the racist comments he made to her while she was "on the verge of tears." After Twitter users responded, pointing out that Cross is a fellow comedian, Yi said that she knows the difference between a joke and blatant racism.

Cross responds

When Yi's story made headlines, David Cross decided to publicly address her claims. According to Vulture, Cross said that he doesn't remember the incident happening. He insisted that the pair must both be "misremembering," but if it did occur then it was only a joke made by his "Southern character" from his standup routines.

Cross' wife, Amber Tamblyn, originally took to Twitter to defend her husband, saying that he publicly apologized. Upon receiving backlash, she announced Thursday that she personally spoke with Yi about the issue. "Her feelings/safety are all that matter to me," the actress claimed.

While Tamblyn continued to receive backlash for her husband's comments, she wanted Twitter to know that she does not care about users attacking her.

"I spoke to Charlyne. I believe her. I’m about HER feelings/emotional health right now," she said.

The actress finished up her small Twitter rant by stating that women should not be held accountable for their partners' words or decisions. While Yi did not comment on the conversation she had with Cross' wife, she did thank media outlets like GQ for publishing articles about her story.
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