Singer Wang Leehom accused of buying social media likes and followers

Asian singer-songwriter Wang Leehom (pictured) was recently accused by his estranged wife, Lee Jinglei, of purchasing likes and comments for his Instagram and Weibo. In an Instagram post, Lee shared images of payment requests forms and alleged that Wang purchased social media likes, comments and followers on several occasions. On 22 September, for example, the image shared by Lee showed that RMB50,000 was paid for 1,000,000 followers. Meanwhile, RMB6,000 was paid for approximately 33,000 comments, 24,000 shares, and 48,000 likes on Weibo on the 9, 10 and 20 September.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYp-oa0PZ5a/

At the same time, payment was also made for 40,000 likes and 400 comments for Wang's video about his vaccination in the US on 11 June 2021, as well as for 20,000 likes and 420 comments for a post regarding a poem written by Wang's father on 16 June 2021. Two other payments were also made for Weibo engagements on 21 and 24 June last year.

In the caption, Lee wrote that the images were long-term evidence of Wang buying his "online army". She added that the payment requests contains signatures of different employees under Wang, as well as remittance account information required for final audit payment. Lee urged Wang to not push the responsibility to his employees, adding that all she wants is for Wang to be a normal ex-husband and a father to their children.

Both Wang and Lee were thrown into the spotlight last year when Wang announced their divorce in December. Shortly after, Lee revealed in a lengthy Weibo post that Wang had committed multiple infidelities during their marriage. 

Ever since Lee's post last year, brands such as Infiniti China dropped him. According to Global Times, the business agreement only lasted for two days. Meanwhile, Chow Tai Seng Jewellery also did not extend its advertising partnership agreement with Wang after it expired last November, Global Times reporter.

At the same time, Readboy, a manufacturer focused on electronic learning products in China, as well as Green Monday, a supplier of products from Beyond Meat across Asia, terminated their relationship with the singer-songwriter last year.

It is a known fact that some influencers and content creators fake their growth by purchasing likes, followers, and comments. A 2019 report from AI-powered analytics tool HypeAuditor, for example, found that over 47% of influencers in Singapore use artificial methods of Instagram growth and these include buying followers, likes and comments. 

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