Kris Wu, a name that was once sung with praise by millions of young girls is now washed over with disgust. On July 31st, the former EXO idol was arrested in Beijing under accusations of rape. Wu, who is also known as Wu Yifan was arrested with more than 30 women accusing him of sexual coercion, date-rape drug use, and grooming minors.
Initially, the accusations came to light when his ex-girlfriend, 19-year-old Du Meizhu penned an open letter on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo. The lengthy message explained his series of sexual misconduct where he date-raped Du and abused her. Du was also interviewed by various media outlets where she confessed that Wu paid her approximately $70,000 as “hush money”. The singer has since denied all the allegations of threat and sexual bribery as well.
Following the open letter by influencer Du Meizhu, several women have come in public in support and claimed the same as Du. Each and every woman who came forward with the accusation has been in similar circumstances and accuse him of the same predatory behavior.
As of 10th August, a teenager in Los Angeles came forward with newer allegations that she was drugged and raped by Kris Wu at one of his parties. She was certainly not the first, nor the last woman to be a victim at his parties or his place where minors were repeatedly coerced into.
The scandal of Kris Wu has also officially opened a debate of consent and sparked the beginning of the #MeToo movement in China. Many emotional fans still question the credibility of the allegations that hit Wu.
However, it was also hardly a surprise to many considering the history of lack of accountability among celebrities and Idols. Though Kris Wu left EXO in South Korea, he soon became the leader of EXO-M the Chinese subgroup of EXO. Both EXO-M and EXO-K are incredibly loved by young fans who happen to be in Middle School and High school. Their target age is around 13–19-year old teenagers. Many of Kris Wu’s victims falls within this age gap.
Wu’s reputation took an even bigger hit as new allegations came forward from children of all ages and nationalities. One girl alleges that she contracted an STD from him which inevitably led to an abortion. Another shocking news came across when evidence unearthed deleted texts that showed a video of an unconscious girl being manhandled into a hotel room by Wu’s staff. The girl is said to be the youngest victim who was raped by Wu, a 13-year-old fan.
Kris Wu is expected to be found guilty on almost 9 charges of sexual misconduct. Media outlets report that his jail sentence is going to be used as an example of how severely predators will be punished if found guilty. Wu is currently blacklisted by major brands like Luis Vuitton and potentially could face life imprisonment or death.
