Celebrity cases must be a lesson for fans

One after another, celebrities have been shocking fans with their dishonesty and dubious activities. The latest on the list is Huang Wei, popularly known as Viya, who has been asked to pay an astronomical 1.34 billion yuan ($210 million) in taxes and fines for tax evasion.

A statement released by the Hangzhou Taxation Bureau on Monday casts a dark shadow on the once glittering image of the livestreaming celebrity and "queen of e-commerce" who had been awarded for her charity work and poverty-relief contribution.

After scrutinizing Huang's tax report for 2019 and 2020, tax officials said she converted her livestreaming commissions as revenues earned from the forged business of multiple proprietorship and partnerships in Shanghai. According to the tax authorities, Huang also concealed a part of her commissions and did not report her personal incomes from other businesses, and thus evaded tax amounting to 643 million yuan along with 60 million yuan of underpaid tax.

Before Huang's case came to light, calls for "regulating" the celebrity fan clubs and blind worship of entertainment stars had resurfaced after Chinese-American singer-songwriter Wang Leehom's estranged wife accused him of having extramarital affairs and soliciting prostitutes.

Wang is under fire from Asian netizens, with some saying, albeit sarcastically, that the 45-year-old deserves an Oscar for having maintained a "high-quality idol" image for decades. And despite Wang trying to counter the netizens' naming and shaming, various brands have dropped him as their ambassador.

Such is the influence of celebrities that many people have formed online celebrity fan clubs, which can influence young minds, and engage in online slanging matches against each other and spend huge amounts of money to garner votes for their favorite stars during competitions. There have been quite a few instances of fans, many of them born in the 1990s or 2000s, raising large amounts of money to promote their idols and smear their "rivals". These youngsters, mostly students, are easily misled and indulge in irrational activities.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has pledged to make greater efforts to ensure youngsters don't become fanatic celebrity fans, and issued a notice in September on strengthening supervision on agencies and celebrities, in order to create a healthy environment for the development of the performing arts industry.

There is nothing wrong in some people cheering for, even worshipping, a certain celebrity as long as they behave rationally. The problem is that most of the fan clubs engage in slander and use the online platforms as virtual war zones, which has a huge impact on the social order and harms young minds.

Concerns over the rising influence of fandom on young minds, with scandals involving celebrities sparking public outrage. Some of the scandals include Chinese-Canadian star Kris Wu's arrest on suspicion of rape; actress Zheng Shuang abandoning her partner and their two surrogate babies and being fined 299 million yuan ($46.8million) for tax evasion; and Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan visiting Japan's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 class-A war criminals and is a symbol of Japanese militarism for China.

Fans are emotionally connected to their idols, and the rapid development of social media has brought fans and their idols closer than ever before. That's why celebrities should always remember that they have a moral obligation toward society, and therefore lead a disciplined life and have strong work ethics. As for the fans, they should not worship someone who lacks these qualities.

This is especially important because of the huge number of minors using the internet in China. According to a report in July, underage internet users topped 183 million in 2020, and the internet's penetration rate among minors was nearly 95 percent. The report, jointly issued by the Chinese Communist Youth League Central Committee and the China Internet Network Information Center, showed that 11 percent of junior high school students, 10.3 percent of senior high school students and 5.6 percent of primary school students participated in online fan club activities.

So it is incumbent upon such fans' families and schools to help them to think and behave rationally. The celebrities, on their part, should guide their fans to cultivate friendly fan culture and listen to reason. It's time rationality replaced blind fan following.

The author is a writer with China Daily