Chinese romcom star Wu Xiubo at heart of ‘break-up fee’ blackmail storm
- Wife claims actress Chen Yulin, Wu’s purported former girlfriend, persistently demanded millions of yuan to end their relationship
- Chen detained by police in Beijing after returning to China, Chen’s parents say
The wife of one of China’s most popular actors has broken her silence over a case of alleged blackmail, accusing a woman claiming to be her husband’s former girlfriend of demanding “tens of millions of yuan” to break up with him.
In an online statement released on the weekend, He Zhenya, wife of actor Wu Xiubo – star of the 2013 box office hit Finding Mr Right – claimed that actress Chen Yulin made demands for a “break-up fee” over 18 months.
The statement came after Chen’s parents posted a letter online on Friday claiming that the daughter was taken into custody by police from Beijing’s Chaoyang district on November 5 because Wu, 50, had reported her for alleged blackmail.
In September, Chen declared on her social media account that she had been in a seven-year relationship with Wu and that after they started dating, Wu told her to stop work so she could dedicate herself to caring for him. She said that in 2016 she spent 333 days in a hotel, doing his laundry and cooking for him while he shot a TV series.
In their letter on Friday, the parents claimed that Wu, his agent, and a lawyer pressured Chen to retract the post, offering a break-up fee in return. The parties reached an agreement and Chen left the country, the parents claimed.