Chinese actress Zhao Lusi implied that someone at her workplace who supervised and managed her was the abuser. - ZHAO LUSI/DOUYIN,WEI XIAO/XIAOHONGSHU
BEIJING: The year may have just begun, but the Chinese entertainment scene has already been hit by controversy.
Chinese actress Zhao Lusi revealed in a post on Weibo on Tuesday (Jan 1) that she was a victim of physical abuse at the workplace and is now suffering from depression.
In a lengthy post accompanied by several pictures of herself and her friends, including an image of a weighing machine that showed the 1.61m-tall actress tipping the scales at just 36kg, Zhao said her teachers used to hit her for not getting good grades in school.
The 26-year-old, who shot to fame with period dramas such as The Romance Of Tiger And Rose (2020) and Love Like The Galaxy (2022), added: “When I got older, I got hit too, and I thought it was my fault for not being able to make it through my auditions. I didn’t dare to make a scene, I just wanted to escape.”
Without naming anyone, she implied that someone at her workplace who supervised and managed her was the abuser, and used the female pronoun to refer to the person.
“Eventually, my work became recognised by the public and, thanks to that, I gained the courage to say goodbye. But even at the end, she took a hefty ‘break-up sum’ before she was willing to stop. She made up rumours that hurt my reputation to people in and out of the industry.”
Zhao then said she is suffering from depression. One photo in her post looked like a doctor’s note certifying that she suffered from bouts of anxiety.
“Being depressed is a feeling, but depression is an illness. It’s not something that can be resolved simply by ‘letting it go‘ or ‘talking about it’,” she added.
She also revealed that depression has plagued her since 2019 and she began seeking psychological help in 2021, after her low mood started to affect her physically.
She suffered from multiple health episodes, she revealed, including pneumonia, hives and hearing loss in 2023. Coupled with the death of loved ones, the conditions worsened her mental state.
In 2024, she began to have frequent episodes of nausea and dizziness, along with pain in her joints.
She said: “It is ridiculous that one has to open up and show their scars to prove that they are not just too sensitive to stress and unable to be contented with they have.”
Zhao’s revelation comes after days of silence on her part amid rumours about her physical condition, which were sparked in December after fans saw her in a wheelchair.
Her studio confirmed on Dec 27 that the actress was sent to hospital on Dec 18 due to ill health, but did not specify what she suffered from. Fans became even more worried when Zhao’s Weibo account was temporarily shut down on Dec 27.
Actress Wei Xiao, Zhao’s friend and The Romance Of Tiger And Rose co-star, posted pictures of Zhao in a wheelchair on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu on Dec 29. Zhao had lost her ability to speak at one point, Wei disclosed, but she is now recovering well with rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, Zhao posted a recap of her 2024 on Chinese short video platform Douyin on Jan 1, which showed clips and pictures of her in the hospital, in a wheelchair, and seemingly struggling to walk and eat.
The news has prompted a wave of denials as netizens embarked on a hunt to identify Zhao’s abuser. Li Wei, founder of her management agency Galaxy Cool Entertainment who has since left the company, denied physically abusing her in a WeChat post.
Galaxy Cool Entertainment also defended its management of Zhao and said it has always made her mental and physical health its top priority. She signed with the agency in 2016.
Straight-shooting Chinese producer Yu Zheng, known for helming Story Of Yanxi Palace (2018), waded into the controversy on Jan 2, saying he was being cyberbullied by Zhao’s supporters.
He addressed Zhao in a Weibo post that read: “What did I ever do to you? Say something. I was the one who recommended you to many people before you were ever famous and I was there to talk to you when you needed it. How is it that this mess has implicated me?”
He then tagged Chinese actress Xu Yiruo, reportedly Zhao’s former manager, and said: “Whatever mess there is between the two of you, don’t involve me.”
Xu did not speak out directly on social media. But her lawyer put out a statement on Jan 2, which said that claims about Xu physically abusing Zhao and asking for a hefty contract termination fee are false, and legal action may be pursued against those spreading such claims. - The Straits Times/ANN
