Brands reminded to manage risks in wake of celebrity scandal

Allegations made online surrounding a prominent Chinese singer have prompted a committee under the Beijing Advertising Association to issue a reminder to brands, entertainment and multichannel network agencies associated with the singer to manage potential risks.

The association's committee on regulating celebrity endorsement released a statement on its official WeChat account on Saturday, pointing to the "escalating public opinions" related to a mainland singer surnamed Cai, without mentioning the person's full name.

"Recently, the incident involving Cai has gradually escalated, with the potential for further hype and expansion," the statement said. "Therefore, it is advised that relevant brand parties, entertainment agencies and MCN brokerage institutions appropriately control the risks associated with Cai."

Although the statement didn't explicitly name the singer, it's strongly believed that the Cai in the warning refers to Cai Xukun, a pop singer who has been recently enveloped in an alleged abortion scandal.

Cai has 38 million followers on microblogging platform Sina Weibo.

Last week, an entertainment blogger who claimed to be an insider made several social media posts claiming that in 2021, Cai had a one night stand with a woman and asked her to have an abortion after she found herself pregnant a month later.

In addition, the posts said that because Cai's mother suspected the woman of lying, she had attempted to monitor the woman by hiring a private investigator and illegally installing a pinhole camera in her door.

The posts also included some screenshots of WeChat chat records, pictures of medical diagnoses and a letter of understanding between the woman and Cai.

The allegation soon drew a great deal of attention on Chinese social media. The initial Weibo post of the allegation has garnered more than 1 million interactions as of Sunday.

A number of netizens discussed whether the brands Cai endorses and the entertainment cooperation the singer is engaged in would be affected by the allegation.

On Friday, Keep Running, a reality show program produced by Zhejiang Television, announced on its Weibo account that the scheduled Friday airing of its program would be postponed due to production adjustments.

According to a preview of the program, Cai was scheduled to appear as a guest together with various well-known celebrities.

However, so far, no brand Cai is endorsing has announced any changes in their agreements with him.

As of press time, there has been no response from Cai regarding this matter.