It seems like there is now a de facto ban on Kris Wu Yifan from appearing onscreen for allegedly sexually abusing and date-raping minors. The bombshell was dropped by one of his victims Du Meizhu and it has been the only thing netizens have been talking about on Weibo for the past few days.
Wu Yifan’s debut drama The Golden Hairpin (co-starring Yang Zi), which made headlines over its top billing order controversy, will likely never see the light of day. An alternative would be to replace Wu Yifan with another actor’s face using artificial intelligence (aka what Win The World did with Gao Yixiang, which didn’t end up airing anyways because of Fan Bingbing’s tax evasion scandal), which is both costly and time consuming.
Given the way the Chinese entertainment industry is run and how involved the censors are in everything, I can only say that this has been a long time coming (he was involved in similar scandals in 2016 and 2019). Even without this mess his acting / singing is hardly watchable, so I personally am glad to see him leave the entertainment scene.
Both parties have reported this to the police, though no public announcements have been made about this case on the judicial side.
Couldn’t care less about his career. Still, the potential criminal aspects of his actions are still unsubstantiated allegations at the present. I’m always highly skeptical of accusations posted online.
Did she finally file a police report? Last time I checked up this, the 24-hr period she threatened had passed without any action from her (despite supposedly claiming that she had enough evidence to send him to prison for 10 years). His side filed the police report first so I’m inclined to believe his side’s claim that both sides were once privately negotiating a cash settlement. Both sides showed that his mother did transfer 500K Yuan to her account.
Netizens now seem to be less certain about his guilt, the legal part, but they are absolutely certain that he is enough of a scumbag to be a morally acceptable “idol” in China.
correction: …enough of a scumbag to not be a morally acceptable…
Initial police report revealed a third party. A guy pretended to be another victim giving her dirt on Chris Wu, pretended to be her to negotiate with Chris Wu’s team, then pretended to Chris Wu’s lawyer demanding money back. (Somehow this guy got her bank account and other useful information.) Neither side realized they were being played.
Police said that her actions, or lack thereof, didn’t fit the case for sexual assault/rape. (Also, she was of age at the time – someone counted 18 years and 17 days old.) Neither her nor any other alleged victims had filed any police report. (Nothing about potential underage victims.) Investigation continues.
All the parties in this scandal will likely face some sort of punishment:
Kris – already blacklisted in the industry and lost all his brand sponsorships. If the police can find evidence validating the sexual assault allegations, he’ll be convicted and sent to prison.
DMZ (the accuser) – her actions meet the criteria for blackmail. If Kris hires a lawyer and sues her for that, there’s a high chance she’ll get convicted and sentenced to prison (1-3 years).
Liu (third party writer) – already arrested and plead guilty. Definitely will get charged for fraud and/or blackmail.
No one will go unpunished here..
Just a few corrections: Based on current reports, DMZ does not meet the criteria for blackmail, because it was the 3rd party Liu that pretended to be both DMZ and WYF’s lawyer / studio.
The writer Xu is not the same person as the blackmailer.
I read some articles on baidu that mentioned this scandal was similar to Wu Xiubo’s. But due to the presence of the third writer, I guess it’s slightly different.
Overall, I do think that Kris or his family will eventually sue the accuser (around 60-70% chance). Maybe not right now because the police are still investigating and the story is too hot..
Some of her public accusations could get her in legal trouble if those were found to be fabricated, even if were the writer or anyone else who made them up.
The way her supporters jumped all over some Communist Party organization’s opinion on this could end up causing other kinds of serious trouble for her and gender equality/women’s rights movement in China.
Wondering what are her chances of becoming a celeb now.
Good riddance.
I was kind of looking forward to the Gold Hairpin because I like the novel and Yang Zi. The director is pretty good too and usually manages to bring out acting abilities in people that you have no faith in so was willing to give Kris Wu a chance…
You never know with C drama land though, unless he actually gets convicted then he may still have a chance of comeback.
His acting is painful to watch indeed though I was willing to give him a chance because his ex-bandmates Luhan and Zhang Yixing improved their acting in their respective latest projects. Alas.
His career is done. Regardless of the police investigation results, his public image is in tatters. The number of accusations directed against him is staggering. Doubt any brands would want to associate with him ever again..
Damn… I’m not even his relative, yet, his actions make me feel ashamed.
Minors? Damn…he destroyed himself.