Porsche, Bulgari, and other brands cut ties with Chinese star Kris Wu after he was accused of sexual assault

Posted on : 07/21/2021
Porsche, Bulgari, and other brands cut ties with Chinese star Kris Wu after he was accused of sexual assault
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  • A 19-year-old former fan accused Kris Wu of sexually abusing her when she was 17.
  • Wu took to the Chinese microblogging website Weibo to deny the accusations.
  • Numerous major brands like Louis Vuitton and Porsche have ended their partnerships with Wu.
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Numerous brands have cut ties with the Chinese-Canadian star Kris Wu after he was accused of sexual assault.

In an interview with the Chinese news website NetEase on Sunday, 19-year-old student Du Meizhu accused Wu, 30, of manipulating her into sex when she was 17. She said he pressured her into drinking until she “lost consciousness” and then woke up in his bed.

In the interview, Du also alleged that Wu paid her 500,000 Chinese Yuan ($77,000) as hush money to “keep quiet” about the incident. She also said she intends to file a police report against Wu.

Wu denied Du’s allegations in a statement posted to Weibo on Monday.

“I didn’t respond earlier because I didn’t want to interfere with judicial proceedings … but I cannot bear it anymore,” he wrote. “I have never ‘coerced women into sex’ or engaged in ‘date rape.'”

Du’s attorney, Zhu Xiaolei, said they filed a police report about the alleged incident, The Washington Post reported.

According to The New York Times, Du first began talking publicly about the relationship on July 8, when she uploaded a series of purported screenshots of conversations with Wu to Weibo, a Chinese social media platform.

Wu, also known as Wu Yifan, became famous as a member of the K-pop group EXO, which debuted in 2012. In 2014, he left the group after filing a lawsuit against SM Entertainment alleging that the company had treated him like a “machine part,” The Korea Herald reported. He then went on to become one of China’s biggest stars through a solo acting, modeling, and singing career. He now has over 50 million followers on Weibo.

After the controversy spread across social media, several brands that Wu was partnered with – including Louis Vuitton, Porsche, Bulgari, and Tencent, and more, according to the Associated Press – released statements saying they were severing ties with the celebrity.

In a Weibo post written in Chinese but translated by the fashion publication WWD, Louis Vuitton said, “[the company] takes the allegations against Kris Wu very seriously and has suspended its relationship with Kris Wu until the outcome of the judicial investigation is known.”

Du said in her interview with NetEase that she was facing severe cyberbullying and death threats after coming forward with the allegations. On social media, while some critics attacked Du and her claims, others showed support for her amid a burgeoning Me Too movement in Asia.

“Stand with her! She’s only 19 and is brave enough to take on a celebrity like Kris Wu who is rich, influential, and has teams of people helping him,” the Twitter user @JolksYuri wrote. “This could be the beginning of the MeToo movement in China.”

Representatives for Wu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

To read more stories like this, check out Insider’s digital-culture coverage here.

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