Mark Wahlberg, 51, presented the final award of the night at the SAG Awards 2023. However, the Hollywood actor has been slammed for his role in the ceremony, due to the award going to a predominantly Asian cast, 35 years after Mark was convicted of assaulting two Asian men.
Mark took to the stage to announce Everything Everywhere All At Once had received the gong for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
The movie’s cast is led by stars like Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh and Vietnamese actor Ke Huy Quan.
This comes 35 years after Mark was convicted of assaulting two Asian men in 1998 at the age of 16 in Boston’s Dorchester neighbourhood.
Mark was convicted of punching Vietnamese American men Johnny Trinh and Thanh Lam, who he knocked out with a wooden stick.
This has left many viewers of the awards ceremony furious, as they took to Twitter to slam the Hollywood actor for presenting such an award.
Brandon_severs said: “The irony of Mark Wahlberg presenting the best picture award to the cast of Everything Everywhere All At Once whilst having a history of hate crime Asian people is WILD…”
BBlegend21 added: “How did no one realise how problematic it is for Mark Wahlberg to present an award to an Asian-led film when he has been openly racist for years and even blinded an Asian man in an attack?”
Thehornsections commented: “Mark Wahlberg (who’s committed multiple hate crimes including against Asian people) giving a SAG Award to a predominantly Asian cast is genuinely such an embarrassing thing for Hollywood to do.”
Express.co.uk has contacted Mark Wahlberg’s reps for comment.
Mark did make an unsuccessful attempt in 2014 to be pardoned for the 1988 assaults, in which investigators said he had made comments about “g***s” and “slant-eyed g***s.”
This was not the only hate crime Mark was charged with. In 1986 a then 15-year-old Mark and three friends were charged with chasing three black children and pelting them with rocks while yelling: “Kill the n*****s.” The altercation was stipped when an ambulance driver intervened.
The next day, Mark then harrassed another group of mostly black children at the beach, gathering other white men to join in racially abusing and throwing rocks at them.
When on stage at the SAGs, Mark embraced the Goonies star Ke Huy Quan and was later seen posing with James Hong in a social media post, calling him a legend.
This was not the first time in recent years that Mark has come under criticism for his past.
In 2020, Mark was criticised for posting a George Floyd memorial, with many social media users pointing to his actor’s previous hate convictions.
The actor, who added the hashtag Black Lives Matter to the post, was soon slammed on social media for his previous assaults in 1998.
The Boogie Nights star, who insisted the 1988 attack was nothing to do with race, instead claimed he was only trying to steal beer, and served 45 days in prison.
He was originally charged with attempted murder but was eventually convicted of assault.
This comes as Mark has dominated headlines in recent weeks after speaking out about this devout Catholicism.
Mark appeared on the US Today show, with a black cross on his forehead, as he said: “I have always talked about my faith. It’s a balance. I don’t wanna jam it down anybody’s throat, but I do not deny my faith.
“That’s an even bigger sin. You know, it’s not popular in my industry, but, you know, I cannot deny my faith. It’s important for me to share that with people.”
Speaking about what his faith means to him, Mark shared: “It’s everything, it’s afforded me so many things.
“God didn’t come to save the saints, he came to save the sinners. We’ve all had issues in our lives and we want to be better versions of ourselves, and focusing on my faith, it’s allowed me to do that.”
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