China’s leading female movie star resurfaces
After months of mysterious absence, China’s top female movie star, Fan Bingbing, is suddenly back, issuing a groveling apology for massive tax fraud.
BEIJING — She was there. Then she was gone. And then Wednesday, after months of mysterious absence, China’s top female movie star Fan Bingbing was suddenly back, issuing a groveling apology for massive tax fraud.
Until Wednesday no one knew for sure what had happened to Fan, who vanished in June after being exposed for tax evasion by a Chinese television host.
After months of speculation, tax authorities announced that Fan, who played Blink in “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” had been released from secret detention, while she and her company were ordered to repay almost $130 million in fines and back taxes after years of tax evasion.
The scandal surfaced in May when TV host Cui Yongyuan used his social media account to expose what he said was a “yinyang” contract bearing her name, a form of tax that involves two contracts — one secret genuine contract, and one designed for tax authorities which vastly understates income. Fan immediately denied any wrongdoing.
After June, when she posted her visit to a children’s hospital on social media, she vanished from sight, to the dismay of her fans. Chinese state media reported that tax authorities were investigating fraudulent contracts in the entertainment industry. Rumors circulated that her fiance, actor Li Chen, had cut off their engagement.
Tax authorities said that Fan, 37, had been released from “residential surveillance at a designated location.” The announcement sparked questions on whether Fan might be given the chance to be rehabilitated: Instead of facing a criminal conviction and jail, she was ordered to repay the money because she was a first-time offender, state-owned New China News Agency reported.
Fan’s apology extolled the “good policies” of the Communist Party and confessed to tax evasion on a number of projects, including “Air Strike,” an upcoming war film also featuring Bruce Willis.
“I have experienced pain and suffering that I have never experienced before,” Fan said in a letter on her social media account published Wednesday afternoon. “I am deeply ashamed and guilty about what I have done. My sincere apologies to you.”
She admitted she had taken a long time “to correct the relationship between national interests, social interests and personal interests.” With 62 million online followers in China, Fan has been associated with luxury brands such as Montblanc, Louis Vuitton, Guerlain and De Beers.
If Fan does manage to salvage her film career, she would be a rare case. In China, celebrities are held to exacting standards of social and financial behavior. The government sometimes uses prominent figures to send a message to the population about crime or unacceptable behavior.