As many as 11 brands that previously worked with Chinese actor Li Yifeng are heading for the exit door following charges by Bejing Police that he was soliciting sex workers.
The actor, who has appeared in films such as The Pioneer, and The Founding Of An Army, confessed to the criminal charges according to a post on Weibo by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.
The police released an official statement saying: “The individual confessed to visiting prostitutes multiple times and has been held administratively.” According to Chinese law, soliciting prostitution is usually punishable by up to 15 days in administrative detention.
The Chinese Communist Party’s flagship publication, Global Times reporte, “at least 11 brands including Zhenguoli under Mengniu, Prada, Luk Fook Jewelry, Panerai, Sensodyne and RemyMartin have announced the termination of their partnership with Li. By Sunday evening, people could not find any search results about Li in Budweiser and L’Oreal accounts on Weibo, which was previously endorsed by Li.”
On Saturday, Li’s studio issued a statement, saying that Li has consistently abided by professional ethics and behaved within the limits of morality, reports the Global Times, with the statement adding that “the comments about Li Yifeng’s personal life on the internet are untrue and have been maliciously fabricated to spread rumors by people with ulterior motives.”
The statement went on to request online platforms to block or delete any “infringing content,”
Following the studio’s statement, Li published a lengthy post on Weibo saying that the rumors caused emotional damage as well as affected his ongoing businesses.
According to a translation by the Global Times Li wrote: “I hope Li Yifeng will live on in his film and television work, will live responsibly and will also live in the social responsibility of today’s youth, instead of living among lawsuits and fighting against malicious rumors.”
However, the posts by Li and his studio were soon deleted, and related search terms such as “Li Yifeng’s statement” and “Li Yifeng’s long post” also disappeared, according to reports.
CCTV announced Li Yifeng has been arrested for soliciting sexual services multiple times. This is illegal in CN. He has confessed to crimes. Interestingly, he & his studio released multiple statements yesterday denying it, including threatening to sue netizens who talked about it pic.twitter.com/ztCk7uHB97
— Karen🐶总有云散月明时🐱 (@Karenkk_axel) September 11, 2022
