Taiwanese pop diva Jolin Tsai (pic) has refuted criticism that her Pleasure World Tour is a “cult-like” event involving ritual elements.
The 45-year-old’s management team has sued singer-turned-influencer Celia Liang, who has used Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu to accuse Tsai of featuring Satan-like symbols in her concert.
She added that Tsai has the intention of involving her fans in a cult ritual. Liang’s controversial video has since been removed.
According to Taiwan media, Tsai’s team issued a statement on Jan 7, saying the concert had been falsely interpreted and taken out of context by Liang and some members of the public.
“They have published and disseminated a large amount of false, misleading information and insulting remarks, which have seriously damaged Jolin’s reputation and legal rights. This also destroyed a healthy and civilised online environment,” the team added.
Netizens have identified Tsai’s accuser as an Australian-Chinese woman who took part in Taiwanese singing competition One Million Star in 2009. In recent years, she has been active on Chinese social media platforms Douyin and Xiaohongshu as an influencer.
Liang responded to the legal statement with a Douyin reel titled “Jolin Tsai wants to sue me?” on Jan 8. She claimed her comments on the concert were mainly “pure entertainment” and argued that she was not the first person to interpret the Pleasure World Tour concert that way.
She added that she “is honoured to be the first person to be sued by Jolin Tsai”. However, she warned fans against harassment and online trolling, which are criminal under China’s laws.
She then alluded that she would not rule out producing videos regularly to continue commenting on Tsai’s works, as a form of counterattack.
Tsai’s Pleasure World Tour kick-started on Dec 30, 2025, at the Taipei Dome. It is her sixth concert tour and is themed around her 15th studio album Pleasure (2025), which centres on the concept of the seven deadly sins.
The main attraction of the concert is the moment the Mandopop singer appears, poised atop a colossal serpent-like stage prop that is about 30m long.
The immersive show, which has a reported production budget of NT$900mil, sees Tsai moving between elaborate set pieces inspired by animals such as bulls, pigs and snakes, reinforcing the tour’s dreamlike, symbolic aesthetic.
Tsai will be taking her Pleasure tour to Hong Kong in February, before moving on to 14 Chinese cities, such as Shenzhen and Chongqing, from March to July. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
