Kris Wu, an ordinary kid from Vancouver, transformed into one of China’s biggest celebrities, with chart-topping albums, movie roles and lucrative brand partnerships. Then a series of social media accusations brought him down.
In November of 2018, the Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu was at the peak of his fame: young, confident, unstoppable. That month, he released his album Antares, and the record was a phenomenon, with seven songs landing on the American iTunes top 10.
As the only child of a single mother, Wu grew up quickly. He saw himself as his mom’s protector. As soon as he turned 16, he got his licence to drive himself to school and back; he didn’t want his mom to have to take him. In high school, he held a job as a server at an Asian karaoke parlour, in part to relieve his mom’s financial pressure. “I didn’t want to always have to ask my mom for money, like when I wanted bubble tea,” he told a talk show host in 2016.
In 2008, Wu disappeared suddenly from Point Grey. His classmates didn’t know where he went or what happened to him. Most wouldn’t see him again until 2012, when he resurfaced in a music video not as Kevin Li, but as Kris Wu—a newly minted K-pop idol.Wu came of age as Korean pop, or K-pop, was sweeping the globe. The worldwide export of South Korean pop culture—known as hallyu—became the backbone of the country’s soft power beginning in the 2000s. In 2004, the K-pop industry generated US$1.
In 2007, when Wu was just shy of 17, he accompanied a friend to SM’s global auditions in Vancouver. Wu passed the Vancouver tryouts, then made it through several subsequent rounds. Eventually, he was offered an idol training contract in South Korea’s capital.
K-pop companies govern how their stars look, act and dress—some even have “no dating” clauses in their contracts. SM, sometimes called “Slave Master Entertainment,” is notorious for its strict training regimes. Several former idols have launched lawsuits against SM over the years, the most recent being a joint effort from three members of the K-pop group EXO, who terminated their contracts with SM in June of this year and alleged that the company owed them payment.
The same year, Wu and Little G Na , a then-19-year-old Chinese-Canadian influencer, began a relationship; he even flew her to Toronto for a rendezvous. But, according to Kevin Shin, Wu never thought of G Na as his girlfriend. “He was chatting with multiple girls at the same time,” Shin says. Chan was right: the public soon forgot about Wu’s alleged transgressions. Over the next few years, he cemented his star status in China, becoming the first non-British brand ambassador for Burberry and appearing on the cover of Vogue China with Kendall Jenner. As host of, fans turned Wu’s trademark sayings from the show—“do you even freestyle?” and “skr-skr”—into viral memes.
The way Du tells it, she woke up the following morning in Wu’s bed. She claims they had sex the previous night and that Wu didn’t wear a condom. When Wu woke up, she says, he told her that he was now responsible for her well-being and would take care of her for the rest of her life. Du stayed for brunch at Wu’s home that day and says he indicated that he wanted to pursue a genuine relationship with her.
Du’s post launched a mini #MeToo movement against Wu. Her original post clocked millions of Weibo views, and in the days that followed, she says, eight women told her about their encounters with Wu. Du said that two of the girls who talked to her were under 18. A couple of days after her post, Du conducted interviews with major Chinese media platforms like Tencent, repeating her claims and her desire for justice for all the girls and women affected.
On July 19, 2021, Wu posted on Weibo. He refuted all the allegations levied against him: “I never selected concubines or date-raped anyone,” he wrote. “There were no underage girls. If any evidence of this were to be found, please be assured that I would enter prison on my own accord.”
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