Prada drops babies scandal Chinese actress

PRADA has terminated its contract with Chinese actress Zheng Shuang who was at the centre of a surrogacy controversy this week after alleged details of her life went viral on social media.

Zheng’s former partner on Monday accused her of abandoning two surrogate children in the US in a post on his Weibo account, according to Chinese newspaper The Global Times.

The claim was met with uproar in China, where surrogacy is illegal, although citizens can travel abroad to pursue it. The Italian fashion house made a brief announcement on its Sina Weibo account on Tuesday, a social media platform in China similar to Facebook and Twitter. The post simply said that Prada had “terminated” its cooperation with the 29-year-old actress.

The Global Times reported that news linked to the scandal and surrogacy content on Weibo achieved 4.2billion views on Tuesday. Zheng has not confirmed or denied the report.

The outlet said birth certificates for children born in December 2019 and January 2020 in the US were shared online, and the documents reportedly show Zheng’s name and that of ex-boyfriend Zhang Heng. The Global Times claimed a recording had leaked online of the actress expressing dismay that it was too late at seven months to terminate the pregnancy of her second child.

Zheng has pleaded for privacy, saying: “I didn’t violate any state order on Chinese soil. Overseas, I’ve abided by all laws and rules.” The Chinese Communist Party’s central political and legal affairs commission accused her of taking advantage of US law, and said surrogacy exploited women.