Today, boba shops are ubiquitous. Big conglomerates like Starbucks and Jamba Juice have experimented with boba for limited stints. Even then, boba was such a small part of the menu that it wasn’t seen as a threat to Asian American boba businesses.

Things got heated on a recent episode of the Canadian Shark Tank, and Liu's viral critique made plenty of valid points.

Simu Liu's recent critique of a Canadian bubble tea company on "Dragons’ Den" has reignited the debate surrounding cultural appropriation. Liu argued that the company's pitch for a ready-to-drink boba tea lacked respect for the beverage's Asian origins,

Liu, who is the show’s first Chinese-Canadian “Dragon,” called out Bobba for trying to “disrupt bubble tea,” and highlighted the issue of cultural appropriation. “There’s an issue of taking something that’s very distinctly Asian in its identity and quote-unquote ‘making it better’’ which I have an issue with,” he said.

A bubble tea company called Bobba is in hot water after Chinese Canadian actor Simu Liu voiced concerns about cultural appropriation on CBC’s “Dragons’ Den.”

The founders of Twrl failed to get on 'Shark Tank' three times, but got the actor-investor's attention with a TikTok supporting his views on cultural appropriation.