Beijing took a tough stance on stars in 2022. From sexual misconduct to tax evasion, here are the year’s biggest celebrity disgraces.
China’s expanding scrutiny of celebrity culture has serious implications for luxury groups’ marketing efforts in the mainland. In recent years, high-end houses have become heavily dependent on homegrown idols to promote their collections and connect with local consumers. Stans in China are often willing to buy anything to ensure the commercial success of their favorite celebrity and the fan economy is one of the most active in the world.
However, Beijing has not been slow to issue fines or blacklist any stars they deem to be violating the law. From sexual misconduct and soliciting prostitution to tax evasion and illegal advertising, 2022 was no exception and saw a number of big domestic personalities hitting the headlines for unwanted reasons. Here’s Jing Daily’s roundup of the biggest celebrity scandals of the year that was.
Kris Wu
First up is disgraced American Canadian pop star Kris Wu who was back in the headlines in November. The mega-celebrity was charged with raping three women between November and December 2020 as well as found guilty of assembling a crowd to engage in sexual activity — which is a crime in China. He was also fined $83 million (580 million RMB) for $23 million (160 million RMB) in tax evasion. In all, Wu received a 13-year sentence and will be deported from the country after serving the prison time (as is typical for foreign criminals).
When announced, the hashtag “Kris Wu sentenced 13 years in the first trial” received more than 10 billion views on Weibo, becoming the top trending topic on the social media platform at that time.
Deng Lun
In March, Chinese A-list actor Deng Lun, the face of houses such as Bulgari and Roger Vivier, was fined $16.6 million (106 million RMB) for tax evasion by the authorities. According to the Fourth Inspection Bureau of Shanghai Taxation Bureau, Deng Lun made false declarations through fictitious businesses to mask the nature of his income between 2019 and 2020. His evaded personal income tax totaled $7.47 million (47.6 million RMB) and other underpaid personal income tax amounted to $2.18 million (13.9 million RMB).
Deng’s behavior — compounded by the wide wealth gap between the VIP and ordinary Chinese workers — triggered public anger. In light of this, local companies were especially quick to terminate partnerships with him. Continue to read the full article here
