Public, media, and authorities can make an ordinary person superstar, and can also make them fall and disappear overnight. Many Chinese celebrities have been banned over the past years for their illegal behavior and activities. When, their reputation becomes irreversibly damaged over cheating, sex scandal, or getting caught up in controversial and sensitive historical or political issues, their whole career becomes foggy, and it's pretty impossible to rise to their previous fame again. Here, are the top 10 scandals of Chinese celebrities.
10. Zhang Zhehan
Zhang Zhehan is a Chinese actor and singer. In 2021, Zhang's photos surfaced online in which he was posing near Japan's Yasukuni Shrine and Nogi Shrine. The shrines are controversial in China, due to their honouring of the imperial Japanese military officers, who invaded China. Later he claimed, to have made the mistake unintentionally, and apologized for the same. But, numerous brand endorsements terminated their association with Zhang. His upcoming films, and television shows were cancelled. Streaming platforms in China like Tencent Video, Youku, etc. voluntarily took down his work. QQ Music and NetEase Music removed Zhang's songs from their music platforms.
9. Henry Huo
Henry Huo is a Chinese singer-songwriter and actor. He gained fame by placing in the top three, in the singing competition Asian Wave. In August 2021, Huo's ex-girlfriend Chen Lu accused him of cheating on her throughout their relationship. Later, Chen also exposed Huo's distaste for reality television. On August 14, Huo issued a notice of withdrawal from the entertainment industry. Because, of the controversy, his online fan groups were shut down; and his Weibo account was disabled. But later on, in December 22, Chen Lu was arrested by police for extorting money from Huo.
8. Lucas Wong
Lucas Wong is a Hong Kong rapper, singer, and model of Thai and Chinese descent. He is a member of the South Korean boy group NCT. Wong was embroiled in controversy after a South Korean claimed to be his ex-girlfriend, and accused him of gaslighting her. He got publicly shamed when reports claimed, he took advantage of fans romantically and financially. Following the news, the public was quick to blast the star, on social media; expressing their anger and disappointment.
7. Zheng Shuang
Zheng Shuang is a Chinese actress. She became the youngest actress, nominated for Best Actress at the China TV Golden Eagle Award. Surrogacy is not allowed in China. But, in 2021 it was revealed, that the actress had two children born of surrogacy in the United States, and she abandoned them after her relationship with their father turned sour. Due to this surrogacy scandal, many brands started to terminate their contract with Zheng. She was dropped as Prada's spokesperson. Many of her fan clubs deleted her content; and media labeled her ‘problematic artist'. Her projects were cancelled.
6. Fu Yiwei
Fu Yiwei is a Chinese actress. She was married and divorced twice. With her ex-husband, she has a child. Fu was arrested, for allegedly sheltering drug users by Beijing police in March 2016. The actress sentenced to prison, was released in April of 2016. After her scandal, she has not returned to the entertainment industry, but occasionally posts an update on Weibo.
5. Li Xiaolu
Li Xiaolu is a Chinese actress and singer. Li married actor Jia Nailiang in 2012, with whom she had a daughter. In 2017, Li got into a massive scandal when she was photographed, spending the night at Chinese rapper PG One’s home. Later in 2019, a video of Xiaolu and PG One kissing and engaging in other intimate, couple-like behavior was leaked. A month after that, Xiaolu and Nailiang announced the end of their marriage. The extramarital affair caused a heavy blow to Li’s career, as she was being canceled by the public.
4. Chen Yufan
Chen Yufan is a Chinese actor, and singer-songwriter of the pop duo Yu Quan. Chen was arrested, by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, for drug use and illegal possession of drugs in, November 2018. He was labeled a “drug addict”, and was ordered to pay regular visits to a local rehab center for three years. Chen’s concerts were canceled; and his band with Hu Haiquan was dissolved.
3. Wu Xiubo
Wu Xiubo is a Chinese actor, musician, and producer. Chinese actress Chen Yulin, posted the history of her alleged seven-year relationship with married actor Wu on social media, in September 2018. Later in November 2018 Chen was arrested by local Beijing police for blackmailing Wu. Although, Chen was found guilty; but, Wu' reputation was already ruined, he was blocked by many Chinese Telivision Station and his programs were cancelled.
2. Qian Feng
Qian Feng, a famous Chinese actor who, was accused of rape in August 2021. A woman surnamed Xiao alleged online that he raped her in his home in Shanghai in 2019. According to Xu, she called the police after the incident; but they refused to investigate due to the lack of evidence. Later on, Hunan TV suspended Feng.
1. Kris Wu
Wu Yi Fan, professionally known as Kris Wu, is a Chinese-Canadian rapper and actor. On July 8, 2021, Du Meizhu accused Wu of allegedly raping her and 30 other females (including minors) by releasing a post on her Weibo. Wu denied all accusations but lost sponsorship and collaborations with Chinese brands like Tencent Video, KANS, etc. His social media accounts and music has been removed from Chinese platforms; and he was later arrested by the Beijing Police. He had been in police custody since August 2021.
