Cancelled in China or South Korea? Try making a comeback in Singapore and South-east Asia

SINGAPORE – When Mandopop star Wang Leehom

performs at One Love Asia Festival at the Padang on Oct 19,

it will mark the 48-year-old star’s first performance in Singapore since his career and reputation suffered a major setback from an ugly divorce.

In 2021, Wang split from his former wife Lee Jinglei, who accused him of infidelity and hiring prostitutes. He denied being unfaithful, but announced a temporary hiatus from entertainment.

Chinese state-sanctioned newspaper Global Times condemned him at the time, saying in a statement on Weibo that a temporary hiatus may not be enough. “Immoral artistes should be frozen out,” the publication wrote, which some feared would mark the end of Wang’s career in China. 

Since then, the Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter, who won a defamation lawsuit against a netizen who made unsavoury claims about his personal life and relationships, has bounced back.

In September, he took part in a Greater Bay Area Film Concert in Macau, co-organised by Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television, marking an official comeback in mainstream Chinese media.

But public sentiment of him has not exactly recovered. He withdrew from performing a tribute to late singer Coco Lee at the Golden Melody Awards in June, after fierce backlash from Taiwanese netizens online.

Headlining a Mandopop festival in Singapore seems to be no issue, however. 

A long-time fan, Mr Wayne Yong, was shocked by Wang’s alleged scandal but did not stop supporting him.

The 30-year-old Malaysian, an actuary based in Singapore, says: “Anyone can make mistakes in relationships. I don’t think it’s fair to magnify his issues just because he’s a public figure.”

Mr Yong is not attending One Love Asia Festival, but says he will “definitely” pay for a solo concert by Wang if he chose to hold one in Singapore. He adds: “I can separate (supporting) the artiste from their personal lives.”

In recent years, East-Asian celebrities “cancelled” in their primary markets have pivoted to Singapore and the South-east Asia region to rebuild their careers. 

Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan, 33, was blacklisted in China after netizens accused him of visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Japan when an old photo of him travelling in Japan went viral in 2021. The shrine commemorates over two million of Japan’s war dead, including prominent convicted war criminals.

He later made a comeback as a singer-songwriter, holding concerts and fan meetings in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. He also

performed at Yes 933 Hits Fest in Singapore in 2023.

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, who has not acted in a Chinese production since her tax evasion scandal in 2018,

received the Cinema Icon Award at the Singapore International Film Festival in 2023

and made headlines at a Songkran parade in Bangkok in 2024.

The 43-year-old will also lead Malaysian film-maker Chong Keat Aun’s upcoming movie Mother Bhumi and has even been named the new tourism ambassador of Malaysia’s Melaka state.

Dr Jian Xu, senior lecturer in communication studies at Deakin University, Australia, and an expert on Chinese celebrity and pop culture, says not all stars have the opportunity to pivot to South-east Asia.

Stars such as Wang and Fan have long been established internationally, while Zhang grew a fan base with the popular wuxia series Word Of Honor (2021) outside China prior to his blacklisting.

Dr Xu says: “They are still ambitious and career-minded and would like to seek opportunities to make a comeback. Trying the South-east Asian market, which is beyond the control of the Chinese government, can be seen as a sort of ‘qu xian jiu guo’ (a Chinese phrase that means saving one’s country in a roundabout way), except in this case, they are saving their careers.

“They can maintain some visibility, though limited, in the entertainment industry, which is better than total disappearance from public life.”

South-east Asia is also a popular locale for these stars to make a comeback, in part due to a significant Chinese diaspora in the region as well as a demographic that engages with Chinese media, Dr Xu says.

The phenomenon is one that extends beyond celebrities cancelled in China.

South Korean actor Kim Ji-soo, 31, whose career screeched to a halt in 2021 after a school bullying scandal, is now based in the Philippines and has signed with a Philippines talent agency in August. 

South Korean stars pivot to the region in part because of the “demonstrated economic investment that consumers within these regions possess regarding East Asian stars”, says Dr Thomas Baudinette, senior lecturer at Macquarie University in Australia and an expert in K-pop culture. 

He adds that South-east Asian fans also tend to be more aligned with Anglophone, or Western fans, who are less concerned about, or perhaps more forgiving of, certain scandals like those related to dating. 

Still, news of Kim’s comeback was met with fierce backlash online. 

Dr Baudinette says: “Many social media users in the Philippines called Kim out for his past bad behaviour and criticised him for seeking to exploit Filipino media consumers ignorant of his past actions.”

Fans of Zhang, however, are overwhelmingly glad that their idol has found a way to continue to engage with them through music and gigs in South-east Asia.

Ms Echo Yang, a stay-at-home mother of two who resides in Shanghai, travelled to attend Zhang’s concerts in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur in 2023 and his fan meet in Sydney in 2024.

The 38-year-old Chinese national, who previously worked as a media professional, felt there was a lot of malicious misinformation surrounding Zhang’s cancellation. She continued to support him, even when he took a nearly two-year break from public appearances.

“Back when there was absolutely no news from him, a lot of fans were worried he would change careers. But I don’t think he is the type to give up performing,” she says.

“I thought it would take maybe five years before fans heard from him again. So, when he reinvented himself through music and held his comeback concert in Bangkok after two years, I was very surprised. It felt like his way of giving fans and himself an answer. I really admire that about him. It exemplifies his attitude of never giving up.”

Ms Yang has met hundreds of Zhang’s fans through attending his overseas shows, including those from the US, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and Thailand, though most are fans who travel from China to see him perform.

Zhang has no presence on Chinese social media to this day and is primarily active on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. He recently made a documentary titled August, about the intense cyberbullying he suffered in the wake of his scandal, which was released on YouTube.

Many of Zhang’s fans take comfort in how he has managed to salvage his career.

Ms Lu Feng, a 37-year-old Singaporean who works in e-commerce, was incredibly touched when she saw Zhang perform his two-night concert in Bangkok in May 2023 – his first since his cancellation. 

Ms Lu, who has gone to all of Zhang’s concerts and fan meets since 2023, recalls: “At the time, there were massive layoffs in my industry and I was feeling very down. But when he came onstage, he told us that he’s in a good place and he hopes all of us can also move forward to a better place in our lives.

“When I saw that, I felt like he went through something so difficult, yet he could pick himself back up, so what I’m facing is really nothing much. That’s why I love going to his shows.”