Louis Vuitton among major brands dropping Kris Wu over date-rape allegations

Several international brands have cut ties with Chinese singer Kris Wu following an accusation emerging of Wu date-raping underage girls. Wu has denied the act.

The singer was accused of targeting, and pressuring, a teenage girl and other young women for sex. The accusations, which Wu denied in multiple statements, have triggered widespread public outrage, according to a report from The New York Times. On his Weibo account, Wu said did not respond to the initial accusations as he did not want to interfere with judicial proceedings. He added that his silence resulted in the escalation from the accuser and his current statement comes as he can not bear the allegations anymore. 

"I only met Ms Du (the teenage girl who accused Wu of raping) once at a friend's gathering on 5 December 2020, I didn't ply her with alcohol, confiscate her phone and do anything that she described," he said. 

However, brands have decided to cut ties with him or suspended collaborations. On its Weibo account, Luis Vuitton said on 19 July it decided to suspend the collaboration with Wu until the result of the judicial investigation is announced. However, Wu posted some photos about Louis Vuitton's latest fall/winter collection on 8 July and the post is still on his account without deleting it. 

Meanwhile, Chinese cosmetic brand Kans announced on Weibo that it has already issued a letter to Wu to terminate the contract, while the collaboration between the brand and Wu had ended.  

According to a report from Global Times, Porsche, Lancôme, Tempo, Libai, Master Kong's iced tea branch, kitchen appliance manufacturer Vatti, haircare brand Seeyoung, and EtherealSound, a programme affiliated with China Central Television, terminated the contract with Wu. Meanwhile, EtherealSound announced on Sunday that all cooperation with Wu had been terminated and content that Wu had been involved in had been deleted on the app, while Lancôme and Kiehl's deleted their social media posts showing previous cooperation with Wu too. 

Chinese netizens showed no mercy on Wu and they called for legal intervention to give justified answers. Also, the allegations and claims of his date-rape behaviours against women continue to simmer online. Previously, singer Lin Xiya and online celebrity Xiao Gna previously accused Wu of harassing them, but the latest accusation has a greater impact on Wu's career.

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