Read Crazy Rich Asians Director Jon M. Chu’s Letter to Coldplay Asking to Use “Yellow”

Coldplay’s song “Yellow” is used in the new romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, and apparently it took a letter from director Jon M. Chu for the band to sign off on it. The letter, published in the Hollywood Reporter yesterday, sees Chu explain the song and title’s significance to him. “From being called the word in a derogatory way throughout grade school, to watching movies where they called the cowardly people yellow, it’s always been a negative connotation in my life,“ he wrote. “That is, until I heard your song. For the first time in my life, it described the color in the most beautiful, magical ways I had ever heard: the color of the stars, her skin, the love.”

The Chinese-language version of “Yellow” used in the movie was recorded by Katherine Ho, a USC college student and former contestant on “The Voice.” Read Chu’s full letter to Coldplay here. Crazy Rich Asians is in theaters now.