Du Meizhu: The controversial face of China's #metoo movement

Since her pivotal role in the prosecution of singer and ex-K-pop star Kris Wu for s e x crimes, Chinese influencer Du Meizhu has been thrust into the spotlight, landing several on-screen opportunities herself. The influencer, however, is now being accused of fabricating the accusations.

Content warning: This gallery contains mentions of s e xual assault.

Image: Weibo

Du Meizhu is a Chinese influencer born on November 18, 2022, in China. She was 17 years old at the time of the 2021 accusations against Kris Wu and was a student at the Communication University of China.

Image: Weibo

In 2021, Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu was accused by Du Meizhu on Weibo of having drugged and r aped more than 30 women. According to Koreaboo, this was done under the pretext of auditioning to star in his music videos.

Image: Weibo, SM Entertainment

According to Koreaboo, Du Meizhu was in a relationship with Kris Wu at the time and discovered that he had been cheating on her with multiple women and had a WeChat account specifically for targeting underaged girls for s e x.

Image: Weibo, SM Entertainment

Allkpop reports that Du Meizhu played a major part in the downfall and sentencing of Kris Wu, as she had alleged evidence of text and photo proof to back up her allegations against Kris Wu and had posted them on her Weibo account.

Image: Weibo

Despite the accusations amounted against him, Koreaboo noted that back in July 2021, Kris Wu had vehemently denied all of them, maintained that he did not have an intimate relationship with Du Meizhu, and denied every one of her damning accusations in his Weibo account.

South China Morning Post reports that Du Meizhu’s accusations were later found to be credible by the Chinese police, who then proceeded to detain the star under suspicion of r ape.

According to the Global Times, the verdict in the case against Kris Wu found him guilty of r ape and of committing the crime while his victims were intoxicated on November 2022.

According to the same report, Kris Wu was also charged with organising prostitution and tax evasion. He was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison, with the ruling that he will be deported back to Canada once his sentence is completed.

This became one of China’s biggest scandals, as it was the first time that one of China’s biggest stars was publicly exposed, sentenced, and punished for s exual assault.

Since her very public and pivotal role in bringing Kris Wu behind bars, Du Meizhu has become hailed as a hero and the face of China’s #metoo movement, reports the South China Morning Post. However, her sudden fame soon became problematic.

Image: Weibo, SM Entertainment

Yahoo reports that in 2022, Du Meizhu has been rumored to be preparing to enter show business by her physical change, which includes “losing weight, dance practice, and undergoing teeth corrective surgery”.

Image: Weibo

The rumors were confirmed later, according to the same report, when it was revealed that Du Meizhu was to star as the female lead in the web drama “Young Female Genius Detective”.

Image: Weibo

According to Nextshark, news of her entry into showbiz with her role in the web drama enraged some netizens, who accused Du Meizhu of "using the scandal to get into the industry".

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According to the same report, Du Meizhu was also accused of being a hypocrite because she had previously stated that she did not want to enter showbiz after her ordeal with Kris Wu.

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However, Dramapanda points out that she had been studying acting while at university, so it was natural for her to pursue acting as a career.

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In shocking news in November 2023, Today reported that an alleged ex-ghostwriter for the budding star had come out to reveal that all the accusations against Kris Wu were false and that the ghostwriter in question had even helped Du Meizhu fabricate the claims.

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Earlier in February 2023, 8days reported that Du Meizhu's former friend and fellow influencer, Li En, had also accused Du Meizhu of fabricating the accusations in order to gain fame and money.

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Another 8days report back in 2022 also noted that Du Meizhu had been accused of being a liar and a s exual predator herself by her alleged former boss.

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According to the same report, Du Meizhu's alleged ex-boss accused her of doing the same thing she accused Kris Wu of doing – s e xually assaulting a male model after intoxicating him. Her ex-boss claimed that he had CCTV footage and payment records to back up the accusation.

Image: Weibo

Regardless of the validity of Du Meizhu's testimony, the Chinese court decided to uphold Kris Wu's sentence. On November 24th, the South China Morning Post reported that they had rejected the star's sentence appeal and maintained that there was damning evidence against the star for his crimes.

Although there is no denying that Du Meizhu had a significant impact on the Chinese entertainment scene, the numerous accusations levelled against her have harmed her credibility and reputation and cast her as the now problematic face of China's #metoo movement.

Image: Weibo