Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu has been officially arrested and charged in connection with a sexual assault case against him in China. Wu, 30, was initially detained on July 31 following a social media outcry allegedly over sexual assault, which has become one of the most high-profile #MeToo cases in the Chinese capital.
The move comes after allegations first surfaced on the social media platform Weibo last month. According to a social media post, a woman by the verified pseudonym 'Du Meizhu' accused Wu of sexually assaulting her while drunk during a meeting for a casting interview at the pop star's home.
The woman said she was 17 and a student at the China Communication University in Beijing at the time she became a victim of the alleged sexual assault by the singer. However, prior to his arrest, the pop singer had denied the allegations through his personal social media account. Moreover, his company called the charges a malicious rumor and said it was pursuing legal action against the accuser.
A statement released from the Chaoyang prosecutor's office in Beijing stated that pop star Wu's arrest was officially approved Monday. However, no details of the charges were mentioned in the document.
Kris Wu's Social Media Account Deleted, Songs Removed From Streaming Sites
After his official detention, Wu's Weibo account, which had over 51 million followers, was deleted overnight along with his popular songs being removed from music streaming platforms. Wu's arrest grabbed attention on social media on Monday as many people supported the police action against the Chinese-Canadian pop star.
Kris Wu was born in southern China and holds Canadian citizenship. He rose to fame after joining the popular Chinese-Korean pop group EXO. Wu left the group in 2014 to start out solo. He has featured in several films and has modeled for famous brands such as 'Burberry' to become one of the country's top brand ambassadors.
However, after the rape allegations surfaced in July, many of his biggest brand partners such as French fashion house Louis Vuitton, Italian luxury brand Bulgari, and Chinese cosmetics brand Kans completely severed ties with the pop star.
Meanwhile, this is not the only high-profile sexual assault case in China in recent weeks. Last week, the e-commerce giant Alibaba released a statement saying that it had fired an employee who was accused of sexually assaulting another employee during a business trip.
