Kris Wu, the Chinese-Canadian music and acting star, was sentenced to a13-year jail term by a Chinese court on Friday. He was found guilty of rapeand group licensing. The court said that he will be deported after serving hissentence, according to state-controlled media.
Wu (full name Wu Yifan) was arrested and formally charged in August last year.His case was heard in June in a case without media access.
More from Variety
Allegations against Wu were made in July 2021 by Du Meizhu, 18, a beautyindustry influencer. The woman used social media to accuse the musician andactor of date-raping her while she was 17 and at a time when she was drunk. Dulater also accused him of doing the same to other young women, including twominors. (China’s age of consent is 14.)
Wu denied the charges at the time and police initially appeared to side withthe star. But two weeks later the Chaoyang District People’s Procurator inBeijing issued an official statement saying that it had approved Wu’s judgment“after investigation in accordance with the law.”
A statement by the court following sentencing said that Wu forced three womento have sex with him in 2020, while they were under the influence of alcohol.And in 2018, he had arranged lewd activities at his home with two women, againwith alcohol involved. The same statement said that officials from theCanadian embassy had been present for the sentencing.
In China, the crime of rape normally incurs a sentence of between three andten years in prison, though in particularly egregious cases the sentence canrun to life imprisonment or even the death penalty. Group licentiousness,defined as sex involving three or more participants over the age of 16,carries a jail sentence of up to five years.
Story continues
Media reports at the time of the trial in June suggested that Wu risked a jailterm of three to ten years. The 13-year sentence is longer than that and maypoint to aggravating factors or a decision by the court to make an example ofa celebrity.
Separately, on Friday, Wu was fined RMB600 million (approx. $83 million) fortax evasion by the Beijing Municipal Tax Service of the State TaxationAdministration, state media reported.
The June rape hearing was held behind closed doors, apparently to protect thevictim’s identity. It also served to keep fans and press attention at bay forthe trial of one of the country’s biggest celebrities.
Wu was born in China, but has Canadian nationality. He rose to fame as part ofthe Chinese-language offshoot of Korean boyband EXO, before focusing on hiscareer in China. The rapper became a TV fixture as a judge and mentor on showsincluding “The Rap of China” and had a personal following of over 50 millionon social media platform Sina Weibo.
In 2018 he signed an exclusive distribution deal with Universal Music. At thetime, Universal Music Group Greater China chairman Sunny Chang praised Wu, oneof the first Chinese artists to reach No. 1 on the US iTunes Chart, as a“genuine musical talent.”
Previously represented by UTA and CAA, Wu has appeared in Hollywood filmsincluding “XXX: Return of Xander Cage” and “Valerian and the City of aThousand Planets,” as well as Chinese films such as Guan Hu’s “Mr. Six” and2016 fantasy “LORD Legend of Ravaging Dynasties” and its 2020 sequel.
While a number of fans have continued to protest Wu’s innocence, the 2021charging was enough to bring to an end the career of one of China’s mostrecognizable and ubiquitous celebrities. Having appeared on billboards andmagazine covers, Wu was quickly canceled by more than a dozen of the brands hehad endorsed.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram.
Click here to read the full article.