KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 ― Top Chinese actress Zheng Shuang has been slapped with a 299 million Yuan (RM193.3 million) fine for tax evasion.
Another actress, Vicki Zhao, has had her name removed from video streaming sites as Beijing stepped up its campaign against celebrity culture.
The actions are the latest from China as authotrities continue to rein in what it calls “chaotic fan culture” and celebrity excess, after a spate of scandals that have taken down China's biggest entertainers including hip hop singer Kris Wu, who was arrested on suspicion of rape this month.
Zheng was fined by Shanghai tax authorities on Friday for tax evasion and undeclared income between 2019 and 2020 while filming a TV series.
The 30-year-old was embroiled in a surrogacy scandal earlier this year after her former partner accused her of abandoning their two surrogate babies in the US.
China's state broadcasting regulator pulled Zheng's TV dramas and ordered producers not to hire her for future shows.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television reportedly said it had “zero tolerance” for tax evasion, “sky-high pay” and “yin-yang contracts”, referring to the shady contracts commonly used in Chinese showbiz to obscure actors' real pay.
Meanwhile, search results for popular actress Zhao, also known as Zhao Wei were censored from major Chinese video streaming sites from Thursday evening.
Her name was removed from the credits of major TV series, and a forum dedicated to the actress on social media platform Weibo was also shut down.
No official reason was given.
Zhao, 45, and her husband Huang You Long were banned from trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange earlier this year, following a failed 2016 takeover bid that the authorities ruled had “disrupted market order”.
