Taming “Misbehaving Celebrities”: Billionaire Actress Zhao Wei With Close Ties To Tech Industry Blacklisted From Chinese Internet

Chinese billionaire actress Zhao Wei's name has been scrubbed from several major Chinese video platforms, and many of the films, talk shows and TV series she acted in were also removed from the Chinese video platforms as of Thursday night, South China Morning Post reported.

Zhao, who shot to prominence for her role in a hugely popular television show My Fair Princess, is one of China's most well-known actresses. She has close ties with Chinese tech industry. Zhao also become the Italian luxury fashion brand Fendi's China brand spokesperson in 2020.

While there has been no official explanation on why she has become a target of total censorship, Zhao has been entangled in various controversies over the years.

Global Times reported that several video platforms confirmed the removal of Zhao's works, saying they received the request at a short notice and without a clear reason.

Billionaire Actress-Entrepreneur

Besides her acting career, Zhao is a businesswoman, film director and pop singer which catapulted her to ranks of the wealthiest entertainers in Chinese history.

Zhao and her husband Huang Youlong featured in the Hurun list of world's wealthiest young billionaires in 2016, with an estimated wealth at US$1 billion. The couple were one of the earliest investors in Jack Maa's Alibaba Pictures Group.

She purchased the Chateau Monlot in the Saint-Emilion region of southwest France in 2011.

Zhao and her husband were banned from China's securities markets for five years for market violations in 2017 after regulators discovered their company failed in a takeover bid for an obscure animation company. She was also a target of lawsuits filed by 67 investors demanding some 50 million yuan ($7.45 million) in compensation for a misleading takeover in 2016.

Zhao also came under fire for casting Taiwanese actor Leon Dai in a lead role in her directorial venture.

Zhao also courted controversy in 2001 when she sported a dress that resembled Japan’s imperial Rising Sun flag during a fashion shoot in New York.

Zhao's erasure from video platforms comes two weeks after actor Zhang Zhehan, who is represented by an agency owned by Zhao, had all of his accounts and works banned on various social media platforms including Weibo, after posing at Japan's notorious Yasukuni Shrine, sparking outrage.

Zhao’s disappearance from Chinese cyberspace came amid a widespread campaign by authorities to clamp down on “misbehaving celebrities” and crackdown on entertainment industry. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been advocating a redistributionist economic agenda claiming that wealth needs to be more 'widely distributed'.

Also Read: China's Crackdown On Entertainment Industry To Curb 'Irrational Idol Worship', Bans Online Celebrity Rankings And Regulates Fan Merchandise Sale.