Fan Bingbing apologises
‘I feel ashamed and guilty for what I did,’ says Chinese actress.
HIT with monumental fines for tax evasion, Chinese actress Fan Bingbing made a fulsome apology on Oct 3, saying she felt “ashamed and guilty for what I did”.
It was her first public statement after months of silence on her Weibo social media account and after fevered speculation over her disappearance from view.
Fans and industry observers have wondered whether Fan had been put under house arrest by Chinese authorities, or even imprisoned and interrogated under duress.
Although she has still yet to be seen in public, Fan said she accepted responsibility for having “lost my ability to govern myself in the face of economic interests, leading myself to break the law”.
She said she had “endured an unprecedented amount of pain, undergoing deep self-reflection and introspection ... I beg for everyone’s forgiveness!”
She credited China’s ruling Communist Party and her fans for her success as an actress.
She and her companies now face as much as RMB883mil (RM533mil) in back taxes and fines. Fan said she would pay the penalties and vowed in future to “uphold the law and respect orders”.
Her punishment comes as the Chinese government steps up its campaign to ensure that all citizens toe the party line, which demands adherence to “core socialist values” and frowns on ostentatious displays of wealth.
Officials have also launched an investigation into the use of double contracts in the entertainment industry, where only the one of lower value is declared to tax authorities. Fan admitted to the practice.
Within hours, her apology had been re-posted more than 100,000 times and received nearly 500,000 “likes”.
Fans generally agreed with the authorities but also declared their love and support for the actress.
“Respect the result, accept criticism. We still (heart emoji),” wrote one Weibo user.
“Humans are not saints. It is impossible for us to make no mistakes. Being able to correct your mistakes is the right thing to do,” another user wrote.
Fan is China’s highest-paid actress and a star of films including X-Men: Days Of Future Past and Iron Man 3. Her troubles began early in the summer after she was accused by another celebrity of tax evasion.
The other celebrity used social media to post copies of two contracts purportedly relating to Fan’s role in the upcoming Huayi Brothers-produced film
Cell Phone 2.
The so-called “yin-yang contracts” were of different values, and the assumed purpose was to declare only the smaller contract to tax authorities. Fan and the production companies denied the accusations.
According to the investigation conducted by China’s State Administration of Taxation and tax authorities in Jiangsu province, where Fan’s company is registered, the actress was paid a total of US$4.4mil for her role in Unbreakable Spirit, a war action film that also stars Bruce Willis.
Of that, only US$1.46mil (RM6.05mil) was reported as taxable income. The rest, US$2.9mil (RM12.02mil) covered by other contracts, was considered an evasion of personal tax worth US$900,000 (RM3.73mil) and business taxes of US$163,000 (RM675,716).
After Fan’s alleged double contracts were leaked, tax authorities announced in June that they would open an investigation into the tax practices of the entertainment industry. But they did not specify Fan’s case and did not acknowledge her whereabouts.
Fan and numerous other operators in the entertainment industry are also known to make use of legal tax loopholes, such as setting up subsidiary companies in the western province of Xinjiang or other low-tax regions.
While that is not illegal, it could be regarded in China’s tightening political climate as shirking one’s patriotic duty and disrupting social harmony.
Fan has been the public face of such brands as Montblanc, Louis Vuitton, De Beers and fashion house Guerlain. So far, only Montblanc is reported to have severed its connections with her, but she has been conspicuously absent from the other campaigns. Guilt by association is particularly worrisome in China, where government displeasure can quickly doom a person’s or a company’s prospects.
Chinese authorities have a track record of punishing celebrities in order to set a high profile example to others. In 2002, actress Liu Xiaoqing was imprisoned on tax charges.
“When actors become famous, they can profit from their appearances and even words they say. If you are famous and rich but do not take your social responsibilities to pay tax accordingly, it is wrong,” said Lin Yongjian, vice chairman of the China Television Artists Association. – Reuters