Zhao Wei Blacklisted from Streaming Platforms
On August 26, many netizens were stunned to find Vicki Zhao Wei’s (趙薇) online presence was mysteriously removed from China’s streaming platforms. Although Zhao Wei is one of the country’s most established artistes, Chinese news outlets have not provided an official reason for banning Zhao Wei, and netizens are left with speculating the reasons for the censorship.
Zhao Wei in a Patriotism Scandal?
Many netizens suspected that Zhao Wei’s downfall was related to Zhang Zhehan’s (张哲瀚) scandal. Since Zhang Zhehan is currently a signed artiste under Zhao Wei’s agency, netizens believe that the actress is bring dragged by the public outrage over Zhang Zhehan taking photos at Japanese war shrines.
Complicating the matter, Zhao Wei’s past controversy is going viral and many netizens are questioning the artiste’s patriotism. In 2001, Zhao Wei was criticized for wearing a dress that share the same patterns as the Japanese military rising sun flag. Many netizens were outraged over Zhao Wei’s ignorance in using a design that brought back wartime trauma of when Japanese troops occupied China. Although Zhao Wei apologized for the error, many netizens were not willing to forgive.
Despite Zhao Wei insisting that she is patriotic to China, netizens pointed out that she reportedly supported Tibet’s independence because she previously had close contact with Dalai Lama. Other netizens accused Zhao Wei of having close ties with American politics after the star took pictures with Hilary Clinton.
Scrutiny Over Husband’s Business
Another speculation over the censorship relates to Zhao Wei’s husband Huang Youlong (黃有龍) and his complicated business. In 2017, Huang Youlong’s company was banned from trading in the stock market for five years after being caught for market manipulation and trying to buy out a listed business with a shell company.
Other rumors suggest that Huang Youlong’s business grew at a rapid pace because he received monetary backing from powerful investors. However, given the controversial business practices, many netizens were suspicious of the legitimacy of the couple’s company.
The Aftermath of the Ban
Given the Chinese government’s swift crackdown, Zhao Wei’s name has been removed from the credits of her notable works, including My Fair Princess <還珠格格>, Romance in the Rain <情深深雨濛濛>、Old House has Joy <老房有喜>、Tiger Mom <虎媽貓爸>、Moment in Peking <京華煙雲> and Painted Skin: The Resurrection 2<畫皮2>.
Adding to Zhao Wei’s woes, it was reported that her upcoming promotional activities are being cancelled and her appearance on the September cover of Elle magazine is now cancelled. Sources in the industry revealed that many commercial sponsors are preparing to make an announcement for her replacement.
Although official reason for the censorship has not been released, Zhao Wei is trending online as netizens continue to follow the development of censorship. However, given the pace of the ban, many suspect that Zhao Wei’s Chinese social media pages will be erased shortly.
Source: World Journal
This article is written by Sammi for JayneStars.com.
Looks like the CCP is really going all out to clean up the China entertainment industry. Any celebrities working in China who has skeletons in their closets better plan for an alternative career path.
Yeah better run fast while they can, especially if it involves any criminal activities.
I was reading more about this and it appears that she is involved in a lot of shady stuff that has nothing to do with the entertainment industry. She may even get imprisoned or even executed as some even claimed that she admitted to killing someone but who knows how true that is. But she has done a lot of bad stuff for years according to some, however, not sure how true it all is. Now I wonder if ZZH got affected by her so had to wave his career good bye. I even heard that she and others are tied to Kris’ case too. If so, then this is all very complicated and is like a spider web of stuff…
I remember the dress scandal.. the resemblance to the IJA flag was uncanny so her excuse was pathetic. The gvt’s response might seem harsh but ZW has always been sketchy and she shouldn’t be able to make money in china if she disrespects history. No coincidence that ZZH was her protégée
The dress scandal was 20 years ago. lf they wanted to punish her for it they should have done it then.
No, I heard more dirt about her and it appears that she has been doing a lot of bad stuff through the years. You guys should research more about it instead of relying on the few one sided articles on this site. Now I wonder if ZZH was involved in those shady activities too so got blacklisted. I think it was more than those shrine photos and his behavior only.
The real life crime in c-ent is far more thrilling than scripted c-dramas.
Exactly and these real life dramas are even more entertaining then their actual dramas.
Holy crap. Honestly thought cancel culture was an American thing until this month. This is govt backed cancel culture— no way to escape. Another form of keeping everyone in line. These celebs better hope they never did anything wrong.
i think the cancel culture is way over ahead of the curve in china than anywhere else. just look at the what they did to people during the culture revolution. they just secretly do it and people who were closest to the fire just didn’t hear about it b/c there was no internet.
culture revolution 2.0 aims to purge excess capitalism that has seeped into all levels of Chinese society. The goal is re-distribution of wealth by strengthening the middle class so that China can beat the inequality of haves vs have nots. Most billionaires had already taken their money out of China and looking to take refuge in the US before robin hood comes knocking. Who knows if such an idealistic goal of income equality can be achieved without the danger of instability.
Yup and I bet many of them have transferred their money and assets overseas and will seek refuge in the US or elsewhere. The gal between the rich and poor is too big but what the cultural revolution 2.0 is doing will cause a lot of instability.I guess things have to come at a cost.
It is more than what I thought. It appears that she has done a lot of shady stuff through the years. Her luck is finally running out. I have a feeling ZZH may have been involved or got entangled in her mess so got blacklisted. Therefore, it was not just due to those shrine photos and stuff like that.
She has close ties to Jack Ma. Big fish are getting caught
@msxie0714 Jack Ma have been invited to tea by the Government but he has not return from the invite.. I do wonder if Zhao Wei will be invited to the same cup of tea..
i heard he got release but keeping himself under the radar.
Jack Ma’s circle of cronies are falling like dominoes. His friend, a government higher up in Hangzhou, was detained earlier this week for shady dealings with alibaba, followed by ZW. Ma’s empire includes business in c-ent and hundreds of media platforms, which were deeply involved with the anti-Xiao Zhan campaign last year. With the government strikes against alibaba, we can expect more famous JM friends to topple.
@msxie0714 what did jack ma do, exactly? Has he been avoiding taxes? Monopolizing corporations? I don’t like him and his ridiculous expectations on employees, but I don’t necessarily think he is a criminal. Aside from giving snippy remarks to how China handles tech, I am not sure what else he’s convicted of.
@Coralie Jack Ma made a high profile critical speech of China’s economic policies last Oct…. And he fell out of flavour with Xi Jinping. The speech he made is now known as The Speech.
@Hohliu right, jack ma criticized his country’s economic policies that was in his opinion, backwards. but that’s just a snide remark and an opinion. to be tried like a criminal for making a comment… that’s the main reason everyone’s hating on him? And to be called a crony? I just wanna know if he did anything particularly awful to get that kind of witch-hunt.
@Coralie His witch hunters are Xi JinPing and the Government…I dont think most Public dislike Jack Ma… Thus that speech does not upset the Public…Just the Government…The Communist Government. You will never get the answer you want as that is internal information.
Her spider web is very intricate and wide in this industry… and her web has spread into Politics and Economy of China… Once it burns, the fire spread over her spider web… I doubt we will know the exact reasons to her downfall…We will know of the obvious but the Government may not released the sensitive facts…
Another commercial heavyweight actress falls…from Fan Bingbing, “Zheng Shuang” and now Zhao Wei…
Zheng Shuang has huge commercial value, although she is not a good actress but her looks are appealing to China market.
Wonder who’s next to fall.
Zhang Ziyi
That would be my next bet. It seems they’re tackling those with extreme power and connection.
@BearBear all of a sudden, the women are tumbling one after the other. Is it celebrity women blacklist and cancellation month in China? Surely there must be more men doing nefarious things too. We will wait and see who will get pounded by the government’s gravel next.
Yes, I was reading on other sources about why she fell from grace and she is truly evil if what they said was true. Some even said she admitted to murder but not sure his true that is. She was heavily involved in a lot of shady stuff over the years and is finally getting caught. Now I wonder if ZZH was involved as well so got canceled and blacklisted due to being involved in her affairs.
Fan BingBing was just greedy and Zheng Shuang, well we all know her story…They all fell from grace so I wonder who is next? I guess we can’t just blame the government as these people are truly scary.
Why the double standard? I’ve never heard you calling men “evil” yet when it comes to the women, it is always “evil.” Your aunt is evil, ZS is evil, Zhao Wei is evil (and the reason for downfall of ZZH lol) and God knows who else is a target of your “evil” description. Why do you hate women so much?
@HeTieShou oh and I’m still waiting on your reply for Lucas, since you so delusionally believe he’s innocent and it’s just SM who is framing him.
@Coralie,
Didn’t I tell you to look it up yourself?! It is a Kpop thing so if you are not into Kpop you will be clueless! Look up TaeYong of NCT and Woojin of Stray Kids. They were both falsely accused and suffered a lot from it. My point is there are 2 sides to every coin. Don’t just blindly go to one side so fast. I used to always go to the victims side first but now I see they can lie too.
I wonder why you hate men so much too? You claimed to be married to a man too. I don’t hate women but I just go with one side unless it is so obvious. I am a fan of Vicky and have liked her since the HZGG days so am disappointed that she did so many shady things through the years. I excused them a first too but now they seem to be true.
@coralie,
You have comprehension problems big time! When did I say SM framed him? They just made him apologize as they do with all their artists whether they are innocent or guilty. They did that to TaeYong back then too and he was proven innocent years later. It is an SM entertainment thing as they treat their artists badly. But it is a Kpop thing so if you are not into Kpop then you will know nothing. I did not say Lucas is innocent but I don’t know if he is guilty or not too. I am not delusional like you. Being a fan of Asian celebrities since the 80s, I have seen many things so am not naive like you who believes everything I hear. I bet you were not even born yet. With Vicky, the things that she and her husband have done is not a one thing and I feel sad being a fan of her since the hzgg days.
@Coralie,
SM entertainment is the company that Lucas is under so why would they frame him? They are a shady company that treats their artists even worse than TVB in many ways. They don’t protect their artists too and it happens a lot. Mark of Nct who is of the same group of Lucas hates them too. A fan asked him to move his hard during a vlive if he hated Sm entertainment which he did. Whether Lucas is guilty or not, his company will not help him. Other times, fans had the help artists like TaeYong who was innocent to clear his name. It took years too. Woojin of Stray Kids had to leave his group due to false accusations of sexual harassment too. It is sad that people think that lying is ok but it is not as messes up people’s life, career and reputation too. But sadly you don’t understand that and accuse me and others of being delusional when you are the blind and delusional one. Imagine if you had a son and he was being treated like this. Maybe that will make you think differently.
@HeTieShou To be honest, there is no perfect Government… I have been following very closely with how China is changing their education system…And I have to say it is alot fairer to the Country and Economy. And a number of their other new policies… I am sure many of the people are uncomfortable with all the new changes. And I bet many mainland Chinese sometimes forget they are still a communist state. Thus the new policies will shake up the people…
@HeTieShou yes I did look it up and your taeyong example is null and void. If you did your research you would know that he did, in fact, posted mean things about someone before. However he did apologize for it and the victim has accepted his apology. His reputation took a hit when an informant stoked the fires further and accused him of not being truly apologetic which is THEN claimed to be false. But, he did make insulting comments to someone first. So, again, why is SM wrong for making him apologize? He WAS wrong. I’m sure there’s crap about Woojin that is proven true, too, if he had to issue an apology. My point being, most media companies nowadays won’t make artists issue apologies UNLESS they really did do something wrong. They’re not stupid anymore and won’t just blindly make their artists apologize; it’s not good PR esp when there are so many fans at stake.
You’re just hearing rumors about Zhao Wei and yet is so ready to pounce on her and call her evil without even giving her the benefit of the doubt like you do the men. I think if anything, you jump the gun way more than me esp with women.
ZW isn’t really that well-liked even before her scandal. She had a reputation for low EQ and mental problems.
I meant ZS, not ZW.
Yup many hated ZS even before her scandal. She has mental problems for sure. The way she treated YangYang on that one show truly speaks volumes about her character.
@msxie0714 , LOL. I did a double take when I saw ZW… then read your correction. ZS really has issues..
No one, absolutely no one……
50% of Chinese artists transfer their assets to Switzerland and delete IG.
What the hell, how can they remove credits of works she was the main lead in?!
I really want to know the real reason why they are banning ZW. This link below has some more information about those are in trouble celebrities:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrities-disappear-internet-china-moves-054042042.html
We can only wait to see if the reason(s) will ever be released. She is probably not the last one to be cancelled, they are really serious in purging the entertainment industry and fandom.
Not only the entertainment industry and fans but everything else too. I heard they are making many private schools and centers close down and are banning online teaching too. They are digressing and cracking down on everything and everyone which is sad.
@Ian,
I agree and that is what everyone is saying. They are saying that XJP is being Mao 2.0 which is sad. He is closing China up again which is bad. Deng Xiao Ping opened China up which made it the strong economic power it is today. But sadly after Covid and now all of this stuff, China may digress back to where it was before which would be extremely sad. I wish HK, Macau and Taiwan can all become independent from China but sadly that easier said than done. A war may start if any of them tried to declare independence.
My dad hated communism with a passion as he lived during Mao’s Cultural Revolution era. If I remember correctly, my dad said that the only good that came out of communism China was Deng Xiao Ping which opened the country. The only thing that tarnished his reputation was how he handled the Tiananmen Incident (remembered as June 4 incident).
We may not ever know sadly… It seems that the government is not only tackling the entertainment industry but education and everything else too. China is having a Cultural Revolution part 2 but in a more milder form which is sad as history is repeating itself. No one and nothing is spared. Luckily these celebrities have a lot of wealth so they can easily immigrate elsewhere and start a new life. I heard Zhao Wei got property in Singapore so maybe she will go there.
It seems like Xi Jinping wants to be Mao 2.0. At this point, I am glad that my father is not alive to see this and what is happening to Hong Kong. He was a strong supporter of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan being independent of Mainland China.
@HeTieShou in my younger years, I’ve always wondered why we didn’t stay in Macau (my place of birth) or Hong Kong (where we left for Canada). I remember my father saying that if it wasn’t for my education, and better way of life my parents would have stayed there or go back to China. His reasoning was also that I won’t be brainwashed or influenced in my early years regarding communism on being good and blindly following it. I believe that he was afraid there might be communist teachers hiding in plain sight.
My father also probably had the foresight freedom of Hong Kong and Macau will be short lived and the government of China will go back on its word leaving Hong Kong (perhaps Macau?) in chaos. I was not allowed to mention Mao in my house (until he passed) or watch/read anything about him.
If she’s being blacklisted over personally committing criminal acts or acting immorally, I’m fine with that. Otherwise, I think this is all just absurd and ridiculous to rage over someone who has different opinions or wearing some dress that doesn’t represent their own culture.
(btw, I’m just commenting based on this article. I understand that there is more information out there, but I don’t have the time nor curiosity to research. So far reading the comments, it looks like there are a lot of rumors, but nothing concrete. So, I’m just going to stick to the neutral zone until they finally announce something. LOL)
Is there more to what is being divulged to the public that is causing these celebs to be blacklisted and cancelled? There must be, cause as stupid, annoyi g, selfish and disgusting the behavior of Lucas Wong was, I personally don’t think he deserves to lose his career, permanently. Zheng Shaung yes, Kris Wu, most definitely, but there must be more, much more, much more that the public knows nothing about that is toppling these men and women’s careers.
There are a few celebs that are from Mainland China who deserve to be brought down. Two men from Hong Kong whose dealings make all of these disgraced celebs look innocent. Two indifferent BL actors from Thailand and their management teams who deliberately played on the fragile emotions of the delusional fans with deceit, lies and basically porn just to stay famous and rich. There is much more darker actions too with these two.
Throw in two Taiwanese BL actors and the manager of one of them. These two Taipei based actors are Oscar or Golden Horse deserving for the kind, friendly, enviro friendly, considerate , honest , caring, innocent childlike images they are feeding the public. There is some messed up craziness to these two and they make Licas look like an angel. The manager of one of them needs to be banned, permanently, from managing anyone. All the above need to be exposed, and two of them should be in jail. Unfortunately, they are not from Mainland China. These people need to be exposed and some brought to justice.
There is going to be a lot more cencership happening . I am also glad that the toxic, delusional fans are being reigned in. It is about time.
Tgis is only the begining. Many more celebs will lose their careers. I would like to see two Taiwanese BL actors and the manager of one of them exposed. Two Thai actors and their equally toxic mangement teams exposed. Most of all, two Hong Kong actors. All these people make Lucas look innocent. I’m so glad the toxic, delusional fans are being regned in also.
I think her problem is that since she got married to that rich business guy, they both started stepping on the lines with corruption and fraud and other stuff. I am surprised that she managed to survive so far after that stock market fraud scandal where so many investors went bankrupted and she walked away scot free. So maybe i was wrong and all these years the government has just been gathering information to get the whole group involved with the ants stock scandal. Good on them.
Whilst the CCP is not perfect and has many problems, they can run their country the way the want, and not by the way the western powers want. The needs of the Chinese economy back in Dxp’s time and what is needed now is very different, so changes need to be made so the country can keep growing. Investors, tv stars or western worshippers who can’t accept it can go elsewhere to fulfil their dreams, but China has no shortage of people eager to fill the roles.
China has always been strict with the image of celebrities. Just cos other countries have a different set of moral standards doesn’t mean that China has to compromise with adultery and drug abuse.
History shows that the demise of societies, empires, dynasties, civilizations start with complacency, loss of ideals and corruption. CCP is very aware of China’s long history of rise and fall of dynasties and don’t wish to repeat the familiar cycle. Their solution had been corruption sweeps primarily of government officials. The purge this time extends to the entertainment world, tech and other businesses that are tangled together a web of rot and corruption.