Zhang Ziyi’s Deafening Silence Over Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar Win
Making history as the first Asian to garner the “Best Actress” accolade at Oscars 2023 with Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) received congratulatory messages from numerous heavyweight Asian celebrities including Stephen Chow (周星馳), Donnie Yen (甄子丹), Daniel Wu (吴彦祖), Li Bingbing (李冰冰), Coco Lee (李玟) and famed director Ang Lee (李安).
Glaring Silence
Having directed Michelle in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon <臥虎藏龍>, Ang Lee sent his well wishes at the first hour through his personal assistant Li Liangshan. “Very happy for Michelle, congratulations to her!” However, the cast members of the martial arts film including lead actor Chow Yun Fat (周潤發), supporting actor Chang Chen (張震) and actress Zhang Ziyi (章子怡) have yet to congratulate her on her win.
While Chow Yun Fat and Chang Chen did not raise eyebrows since they have not been high-profile on social media all along, Zhang Ziyi’s continuing silence on Michelle’s win has been unusual since she is known to actively update. This set netizens’ tongues wagging, as they start to speculate if there is bad blood between the two.
Zhang Ziyi Silences Critics by Reporting Comments?
Besides Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi also worked together in Memoirs of a Geisha alongside actress Gong Li (巩俐). With their multiple onscreen collaborations, fans are reasoning that the two actresses, both outstanding thespians in their own rights, are likely close competitors in the entertainment industry.
Netizens took to mocking Zhang Ziyi for her inaction and insinuated that it was a case of sour grapes as she fell behind Michelle, who had played second fiddle to her in Memoirs but is now miles ahead, while yet others called her out for lacking gracefulness. A fan was allegedly reported by Zhang Ziyi herself and had her commented eventually deleted by the microblogging platform (user with more than 100,000 followers have more powers in silencing their critics). In her defense, some netizens reasoned that she might already have sent her well wishes personally, while yet others implied that it was not a big deal even if she did not carry out the tokenistic act, given her accomplishments and stature in the industry.
Source: ChinaPress
Michelle Yeoh is not part of the Mainland Chinese entertainment circle… I doubt Michelle will receive lots of public congratulations on social media. With such strict PRC policing these days, many entertainers are very cautious of their actions. They dont want to loss their rice bowl with unknown reasons.
Why single out Zhang Ziyi with such harsh words when Maggie Cheung, Chow Yunfat, Tony Leung haven’t sent public congratulations either? It’s very possible Zhang sent her best wishes privately. Incidentally, mainland media has reported extensively and positively on Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar win.
It is good to know mainland media are supportive over her award.
@mxsie0714
I agree, Tony Leung, Andy Lau and many other fellow Hong Kong colleagues, who are active on social media should have sent congratulations. The media vultures just want to pit these women against each other for their selfish gain.
It’s cause the PRC wants to get on that train and not lose face obviously…
that’s your obvious assumption.
I understand that zzy and Michelle collaborated a couple of times before, but maybe they’re not friends and haven’t communicated in a long time. I feel like the media always likes to compare women way too much and make it seem like every woman in the industry hates one another. No need.
You bring up a good point. The media loves to pit women against each other.
@Minhee
I agree with you. The media is looking to start a war between M and ZYY. It sells, and they stuff more ill-gained money in their pockets.
the entertainment media and fandoms should be ashamed of themselves for rabidly drawing up unnecessary comparisons of both women and men to stir up nasty competition and fan wars. Regulators ought to step in to censure this type of deplorable behavior.
@ay789 Good point… always pitting women against women have been around forever.. Often, those individuals do not even dislike each other. It is just dramas created by others.
Even if this is true, it’s not surprising lol. After all, ZZY even had a fuel with FBB, n the two of them used to be besties lol.
@msxie0714 the article already said Chow Yunfat and other are not active in social media, while ZZY is actually very active.
While it’s true the media like to put women against each other, but ZZY does have a good track record of not getting along with other ladies lol. Also, it’s not a big deal to just write: congratulations! *confetti emoji. The argument that the PRC has a tight control on them also a bit weak as isn’t ZZY in the state atm? And she doesn’t seem to care much about acting atm lol
This reminds me of when the media kept saying for years that Angie and Liza did not get along. They remained silent for years but finally spoke up as the media kept on saying they were rivals and did not get along. I think maybe ZZY and Michelle may just be regular colleagues but not friends so why would she need to congratulate her? Must be a slow news day if this is news.