Wu Yifan responded to "seducing minors": If I did, I would go to prison myself.
[2] Compiled from: Sina Hong Kong Stocks
Recently, the scandal involving Du Meizhu exposing Kris Wu has continued to escalate. On July 18, Du Meizhu stated in an interview that Kris Wu used excuses such as signing artistes and selecting MV leading ladies to deceive young women into having sexual relations. As of now, the known victims far exceed seven, and even minors are involved.
[4] Event Review
On June 2, a netizen claimed that her best friend had been subjected to emotional neglect after dating Kris Wu. Subsequently, the relationship between Kris Wu and Du Meizhu sparked widespread discussion.
After more than a month, on July 8, Du Meizhu posted again, stating that she had experienced cyberbullying and death threats, and released related chat evidence. Subsequently, Du Meizhu stated that she was preparing to submit all materials to the police to file a report.
On July 17, Du Meizhu once again posted key evidence, implying that Kris Wu transferred 500,000 yuan to her.
On July 18, Du Meizhu revealed in a media interview that Kris Wu had sought out and lured young women into sexual relationships through various means. The number of victims, including herself, far exceeded eight, among whom were even two underage girls, and there were even egregious methods such as drugging and rape. Du Meizhu stated that she had already returned the so-called “hush money” of 500,000 yuan in installments and was prepared to pursue legal proceedings. Du Meizhu expressed her determination to “go to war” with Kris Wu, and the information and explicitness of her Weibo posts were quite significant.
On the evening of July 18, numerous media outlets and brand partners successively hid their Weibo posts featuring collaborations with Kris Wu. Essentially overnight, any official endorsement posts that Kris Wu had reposted had his content removed.
In response to the aforementioned “accusations” by Du Meizhu, Kris Wu posted a denial on the morning of July 19, stating, “If I had committed such acts, I would turn myself in to prison!! I bear legal responsibility for all the statements I have made above!!”
In addition, Du Meizhu also posted on Weibo, saying, “Your ten years have been exciting enough. How could an ordinary person earn two to three billion yuan?”
"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 236 [Rape Crime]
Whoever rapes a woman by violence, coercion, or other means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years.
Whoever rapes a girl under the age of 14 shall be deemed to have committed rape and shall be given a heavier punishment.
Whoever rapes a woman or rapes a young girl under any of the following circumstances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, life imprisonment, or death:
(1) Raping a woman or sexually assaulting a young girl under aggravating circumstances;
(2) Raping multiple women or sexually assaulting multiple young girls;
(3) Raping a woman or sexually assaulting a young girl in a public place in front of others;
(4) Gang rape committed by two or more persons;
(5) Sexually assaulting a young girl under the age of ten or causing harm to a young girl;
(6) Causing serious injury, death, or other severe consequences to the victim.
[1] The author's perspective
The recent revelations by Du Meizhu have certainly excited the vast community of onlookers eager for gossip. Although back in 2016, a Weibo user named "Xiao G Na" had already exposed Wu Yifan as the "King of Casanovas in Canada," influential figures like Ma Weiwei and Su Mang still came forward to support him, and the matter eventually fizzled out. After that, Wu Yifan remained Wu Yifan, and his career even flourished further. In 2017, Forbes data showed that among the top 10 highest-earning celebrities in China that year, Wu Yifan ranked 10th with 150 million yuan.
Although Kris Wu has always been controversial regarding his private life, if the allegation of "enticing and raping a minor" is confirmed this time, there is no doubt that Kris Wu's career will be completely over. According to Article 236 of China's Criminal Law, the crime of rape is generally punishable by three to ten years of fixed-term imprisonment; if the act involves raping a girl under the age of 14, a heavier penalty shall be imposed. It is worth noting that what Du Meizhu said was "underage girls," and underage generally refers to those under 18 years old, not necessarily under 14. However, China's age of sexual consent is 14. That is to say, if the girl who had a relationship with Kris Wu was over 14 but under 18, then Kris Wu does not constitute the crime of raping a young girl; if she was under 14, then Kris Wu constitutes the crime of raping a young girl and should be given a heavier penalty for rape.
Also, Du Meizhu revealed that Kris Wu earned two to three billion over ten years, which shows that Kris Wu’s resources and prospects were excellent. But once this incident broke, many brands endorsed by Kris Wu terminated their cooperation with him one after another, so this time Kris Wu may not only face “prison time” but also potentially face astronomical compensation. This shows that a celebrity’s image is especially important, because it also concerns brand image. In fact, it is not hard to see that in just a few years Kris Wu secured endorsements for well-known brands such as LV, Porsche, Lancôme, Master Kong, and Liby, and even CCTV once supported his new song “Soaring.” But now that brands have terminated contracts and CCTV has deleted posts, one can only say that he played a good hand badly and personally ruined his own stardom.
Finally, whether it’s Jiang Jinfu, who was involved in domestic violence a few years ago, or Ke Zhendong, who used drugs, or Zheng Shuang, who was embroiled in the surrogacy scandal, and now Kris Wu, they all stand at heights ordinary people cannot reach, enjoying a halo ordinary people cannot have. They should set an example and stay grounded the higher they go, because the higher you stand, the harder you fall.
