The Office star recalls ‘problematic’ portrayal of Asian American women in Benihana Christmas episode

Kat Ahn realised that she was ‘just there to be a joke’

A guest star on The Office US has called out the show’s “problematic” portrayal of Asian women in the “Benihana Christmas” episode. 

Kat Ahn – who starred in the season three Christmas special in 2007 – has discussed how she now feels about her role in the hit sitcom.

In the episode, Steve Carrell’s character Michael Scott and Ed Helms’ Andy Bernard go to a Benihana restaurant and flirt with two Asian-American waitresses.

Michael and Andy intend to invite the two women to their office’s holiday party, but end up bringing back two different waitresses (played by Ahn and Kulap Vilaysack). The apparent joke is that Michael and Andy cannot tell the difference. Michael then “marks” one of the women with a sharpie in order to tell the two apart.

Ahn recently told The Washington Post that she had been excited to be cast in The Office until she discovered that she was “just there to be the joke”. 

Speaking about the experience of Asians and Asian-Americans in the entertainment business, Ahn said: “You’re told to shut up and be grateful. Actors have no power until they become a star.”

The actor has previously opened up about her appearance on the programme on the video platform TikTok.

“I actually understood why BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) actors play racist roles. You know, sometimes you gotta pay your rent. Sometimes you want to join the union. Sometimes you just don’t want your agent to drop you,” she said in a video shared in January. “Also this episode was before, you know, wokeness.”

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“The storyline with myself and the other Asian American actress is that we were the ‘uglier’ version of the actresses at the Benihana. Also that all Asian people look alike, we’re one big monolith, and we’re just one big walking stereotype without any personality or individuality. Which is problematic.”

On the Office Ladies podcast, former stars of the show Jenna Fischer (Pam) and Angela Kinsey (Angela) discussed the episode in question, stating that it made them “cringe” when rewatching it. 

Ahn’s comments follow the surge in hate crimes against Asian-Americans.

Three shootings at Atlanta spas earlier this month (17 March) saw eight people killed, six of whom were Asian women.

A study by the Centre for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino found that hate crimes against Asian-Americans in 16 cities rose by 150 per cent in 2020.

UK police data suggests there has been a 300 per cent increase in hate crimes towards people of Chinese, East and Southeast Asian heritage in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019.