On the evening of January 27 a trending topic that framed multiple commercial engagements for actress Zhang Yuqi as cancelled swept Chinese social media, after the ex-wife of Zhang’s former husband publicly accused Zhang of involvement in a surrogacy scheme, marital interference and intimidation via lawyers. The allegations, posted by Ge Xiaoqian, have continued to attract attention and debate; Zhang has not issued a public response. The dispute has rippled across entertainment and commerce circles within hours.
Several beauty and personal-care brands associated with Zhang removed promotional posts and images featuring the actress from their official accounts, while search access to those pages returned errors or “no permission” notices. Customer-service replies from flagship stores of brands including NEXXUS and others stated that cooperation with Zhang had “naturally ended within the agreed contract period” and that no current endorsement or commercial relationship exists. Those terse replies mirror a now-familiar corporate line used to signal distance while avoiding immediate legal entanglement.
Media outlets also reported confusion over Zhang’s scheduled appearance on a regional broadcast spring gala; she was seen at a recording but later listed as not appearing. The speed with which corporate partners and platform operators reacted—deleting content and issuing short confirmations—highlights how quickly an allegation can translate into concrete commercial consequences in China’s tightly linked celebrity-brand ecosystem.
Zhang Yuqi, born in 1987 and a graduate of Shanghai Theatre Academy’s affiliated school, runs her own cultural studio and holds shares in two other media companies. Public business-data and social-media metrics show she remains commercially significant: her short-video following exceeds 5.7 million, claimed recent merchandise sales topped roughly RMB 25 million in a month, and standard video promotion fees are reported in the hundreds of thousands of yuan range. That commercial footprint explains why brands move swiftly to protect reputations and sales channels.
This episode matters beyond a single star. In China, where public sentiment, platform algorithms and advertiser caution can combine to remove revenue streams almost overnight, celebrity controversies create immediate collateral exposure for corporate partners. The muted corporate statements and rapid content takedowns reflect a risk-averse approach that balances legal prudence with consumer-facing damage control. The longer-term outcome will depend on whether the accusations are substantiated, whether formal legal action follows, and how platforms, regulators and advertisers choose to intervene or arbitrate reputational disputes.