Chinese entertainers will point to 2021 as the year the industry went through a seismic transformation.
A number of serious accusations against some of the region’s most famous people coincided with a Chinese government crackdown on the showbiz industry, which it claimed was “misleading” the young generation.
While it is common for pop stars to be punished for drug use or tax evasion, the crackdown on entertainers this year was thorough, and the net was wide, famously including a push to ban “effeminate men” from becoming famous.
Celebrities were detained, arrested or blacklisted for incidents that ranged from grievous crimes to violations of cultural sensitivities.
These are the most high-profile celebrity scandals that triggered a public backlash, and in some cases punishment by authorities.
The divorce saga of Wang Leehom and his wife Lee Jinglei rocked the Asian Internet just as 2021 was coming to a close. As the divorce became more contentious, the accusations went public.
Lee publicly accused Wang of emotional abuse, infidelity, solicitation of sex workers and transferring ownership of their joint property to himself and his family after marriage.
Her social media posts created a larger conversation about the sacrifices women make when they “become housewives”.
Wang then agreed to transfer a NT$480 million (RM72mil) condominium to Lee and announced he would “temporarily stop work”.
The mainland’s Communist Party also appeared to comment on the scandal when its internal monitoring body published an article about poor celebrity ethics that did not directly name Wang, but seemed to wink at his behaviour by referring to “the recent case of the collapse of a celebrity’s image”.
The widespread celebrity crackdown coincided with the case of Kris Wu, who was one of China’s most famous men when he was accused by multiple women of date rape.
Du Meizhu, 19, accused Wu of raping her, inspiring other women, some of whom were minors, to come forward with similar stories. He was accused of using his power to “recruit actresses” before getting the women drunk and taking advantage of them.
In August, Wu was officially charged with rape and remains in detention. He could face 10 years in jail if convicted.
2021 was a year to forget for Zheng Shuang, who has been caught up in scandals since January when her ex-boyfriend accused her of abandoning their two children born to a surrogate mother in the US after they broke up.
In August, she was fined 299 million yuan (RM205mil) for tax evasion because she signed one contract to give to tax authorities and another contract that contained her real salary, a scheme called a “yin and yang contract”.
She was a notable example of the near-complete internet blacklist that often accompanied this year’s scandals. Her Weibo account was permanently closed, and she was removed from the credits of her previous work. Various brands, including Prada, also deserted her.
Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan is notable on this list because he was blacklisted for violating political sensitivities when a number of photos emerged of him posing outside Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine in 2018.
The Yasukuni Shrine is a highly controversial monument that contains the memorials of convicted war criminals and is viewed in China as a reminder of Japan’s brutal wartime past.
While Zhang has denied entering the shrine, the photos sparked public outrage, and over 20 brands reportedly dropped him as a representative after the scandal. Once one of the brightest young stars in China, his career appears to be hanging by a thread.
In an online post in November, an anonymous man alleged that his 23-year-old girlfriend, who is from the mainland, was having an affair with Canto-pop icon Alan Tam, 71. The accusation included photos showing a man resembling Tam putting on his pants in a room.
The post soon went viral but was deleted a few days later. Tam and his agency immediately refuted the allegations in a statement.
Earlier this week, he told Hong Kong media the man in the photos was not him. His work did not appear to be affected, but he has met fierce public criticism as a result.
China’s “piano prince” Li Yundi was briefly detained by police in October for hiring a sex worker in Beijing, which is illegal in the country.
A first prizewinner at the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000, Li was soon condemned by official media, deserted by his business partners and boycotted by the country’s musicians along with performing arts associations.
It is unknown how long he was detained but under Chinese law, people can be detained for up to 15 days and fined 5,000 yuan (RM3,300) for soliciting sex workers.
However, some people came to the defence of Li, a talented and beloved musician, after the incident, saying the punishment did not fit the crime.
The 30-year-old star of Call Me By Fire announced his retirement from showbiz after his ex-girlfriend, a dancer named Chen Lu, claimed Huo was a serial cheater throughout their nine-year relationship.
The accusations struck a chord because Chen said she quit her job to marry Huo and start a family with him.
She wrote online: “He said that he thinks he can find a better girl, and that he is doing me a favour by being with me because of his status.”
Huo made a public apology amid the public backlash.
Also known as Wong Yuk Hei, the Hong Kong K-pop star was accused by multiple women of leveraging his stardom to sleep around.
He apologised for his behaviour on Instagram and said he would take a break from his career, which includes membership in multiple bands, including WayV, SuperM and NCT. He also asked for a chance to apologise in person to the people he had hurt. – South China Morning Post
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