'Mulan' Producer Responds To Boycott Threats, Supports Star Liu Yifei

"Mulan" producer Jason T. Reed backed lead actress Liu Yifei amid calls for a boycott of the movie due to her support for Hong Kong police during pro-democracy protests.

The Chinese-born American actress, who plays the titular role, came under fire after voicing her support for Hong Kong police, who have been accused of using excessive force against protesters. Following the announcement that the live-action remake is coming to Disney+ on Friday, Sept.4, calls to boycott "Mulan" were reignited, with fans and activists from all over the world vowing to shun the film.

Reed, however, stands by Liu, whom he said worked very hard and trained for months for "Mulan."

"Well, I think that first off, it's a very complicated situation for performers who live in China and work in China. Obviously, the tensions between the two entities is very complicated," Reed told Yahoo Finance's "The Final Round" on Friday, referring to the relationship between China and Hong Kong.

"I'm not qualified to discuss that in depth. I'm here to represent the film," he continued. "But I will say from a very personal place, no one worked harder and gave more of themselves than Yifei did. She trained for six months prior to starting production — horse riding, martial arts, practicing creating that character."

The producer said he hopes audiences would focus on the movie and her performance as Mulan.

"She worked every single day of the schedule," Reed explained. "So I feel badly for her, that the conversation is inevitably, it inevitably turns to this and I hope that when audiences see the movie that the conversation turns back to what an amazing performance she brought in and how hard, how much she had to do in order to bring that character to life.”

Last year, Liu made a pro-police statement on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform similar to Twitter, weeks into the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

"I also support Hong Kong police. You can beat me up now," read (in Chinese) the Weibo post from the government-run Beijing newspaper People's Daily that she shared.

The post adds in English, "What a shame for Hong Kong."

At the time, Liu's move sparked intense backlash, with thousands taking to Twitter to denounce the movie.

One person said she was a Disney fan and was disappointed this time because the studio promoted someone who supports state brutality against the people.

Another online user said Mulan was about heroism, bravery and sacrifice and mocked the lead star for not standing up for anything but police brutality.