Chinese actress Zheng Shuang has now earned a place for herself in the list of the world's highest-paid actresses if the latest claims made by her former partner are true. She has apparently beaten the likes of many of Hollywood's top names that includes Gal Gadot and Meryl Streep.
Going by the claims made by her ex-partner Zhang Heng, Zheng Shuang was paid a staggering 160 million yuan (US$24.6 million)for her forthcoming drama A Chinese Ghost Story. If it turns out to be true, she has received the biggest paycheck than stars like Gal Gadot ($10 million for Wonder Woman 1984), Margot Robbie ($9-10 million for Birds of Prey), the highest-earning actresses of 2020 Sofia Vergara ($11 million per season of Modern Family) and Meryl Streep, whose total income for the last year stood at $24 million.
The Actual Issue
While such development might have been a piece of overwhelming news for the celebrity's fans in the US or many other parts of the world, but not in China. It is simply because there is a cap on remuneration that actors are going to get per project.
According to China's National Radio and Television Administration's new rule, the salary of film and TV actors should not exceed more than 40 percent of the production costs and the lead actors can be paid at a maximum of 70 percent of the total budget.
It means Zheng Shuang violated the newly-framed rule and she is now being probed for alleged tax evasion and contractual fraud.
How the Controversy Broke Out?
Her ex-partner Zhang Heng has shared a video on Weibo that throws light at the alleged chat conversation that happened between the actress and her parents in connection with her remuneration for the afore-mentioned TV seres.
He has further alleged that she had signed two contracts with the makers of the show. As per one agreement, she was paid 48 million yuan (US$7.3 million) and another agreement, according to which the remaining amount will be paid to the company that has links to her mother.
The screenshot of the chats reveals that she was offered $23.1 million (150 million yuan) and she demanded $27.8 million (180 million yuan). Finally, the makers agreed to pay $320,000 a day for 77 days of filming.
It may be recalled that Fan Bingbing was caught evading tax in a similar way and had paid a fine of more than $136 million (883 million yuan) after finding guilty in 2018.
