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Cai Xukun

The Beijing Advertising Association issued a statement on Saturday evening via its official WeChat account, cautioning brands, entertainment agencies, and multi-channel network (MCN) agencies to engage in appropriate "risk management" over their association with male singer surnamed Cai in the Chinese mainland.

The association highlighted the growing trend of "hype" and "amplification" surrounding recent events involving the singer. 

While the statement didn't explicitly mention the individual's full name, online users speculate that it refers to Cai Xukun, a popular Chinese singer who has been hit by recent abortion allegations. 

Media reported on Sunday that all of Cai's videos have been removed from state broadcaster CCTV's videostreaming platform, Yangshipin. The Global Times searched using the keyword "Cai Xukun" on Yangshipin's official website and app on Sunday night but found no results related to any of his videos.

Cai's studio has been included in the list of businesses with abnormal operations, according to the official website of the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System on June 28. The market supervision administration of Tongzhou district in Beijing cited the studio's inability to be contacted through its registered residence or place of business as the reason for its inclusion.

With over 38 million followers on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, Cai is a spokesperson for over a dozen brands, including the Italian luxury fashion house Prada. He is currently on his 2023 world tour, with the Singapore leg of the tour scheduled for July 15th, according to Singaporean media Shin Min Daily News on June 27. 

As of press time, Cai and his official studio have not responded to the allegations.

On June 26, an entertainment blogger alleged Cai's mother hired a private investigator to monitor a woman and installed a pinhole camera at her door in 2021 after the woman claimed to have become pregnant following a one-night stand with Cai and to have later had an abortion at his request.

According to the posted details of the alleged encounter between Cai and the woman, known only as "C," the meeting took place on May 20, 2021, at a KTV in Beijing's Chaoyang district. Cai and the woman engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse after the gathering. After a month, the woman found out she was pregnant, but Cai allegedly asked her to have an abortion. She underwent the procedure alone on July 5 at a hospital.

Cai's mother, suspecting a potential extortion plot, allegedly hired a private investigator to monitor the woman and secretly installed a pinhole camera outside her residence in an attempt to gather evidence refuting her claims of pregnancy. The post also included several hospital records about the woman's abortion.

The Weibo user also exposed more details regarding this scandal in subsequent live broadcasts, which included chat transcripts between Cai's mother and the private investigator and a recording demonstrating Cai's mother's involvement in arranging for a staff member to negotiate with the woman regarding the matters of abortion and compensation. Cai and his mother were later summoned by the police and finally the two parties reached a compromise and signed a letter of understanding.

Relevant hashtags related to Cai's scandal quickly rose to the top of Weibo's trending list, garnering billions of views. Some of Cai's supporters have called for solid evidence and dismissed the allegations as baseless rumors. However, numerous users have urged Cai to respond to these allegations as soon as possible.

Born in 1998, Cai rose to fame in 2018 through his participation in the idol survival show Idol Producer and subsequently debuted as the central figure of the Chinese boy group Nine Percent. After the disbandment of this boy band, he released multiple songs and albums, and remained active in reality shows, including "Keep Running." He concluded his performance at the Bangkok leg of his 2023 world tour on June 25.

Global Times