Kris Wu denies rape allegations: Companies drop former Exo pop idol, accuser issues ultimatum

A week after serious allegations were made against Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu, the accuser — an 18-year-old Chinese student who claimed to be his ex-girlfriend — has turned up the heat with an expose over the weekend.

As a result, brands have distanced themselves from 30-year-old Kris, who rose to fame in the popular K-pop group Exo.

In an exclusive interview with Chinese media NetEase Entertainment that was published yesterday (June 18), Du Meizhu said Kris and his friends had forced her to drink and she became drunk after two glasses. When she came to, she was lying undressed in his bed next to him. She was 17 at that time.

Du said she was originally supposed to attend an audition, and because of several reasons, it was delayed to nighttime. A car came to pick her up and along the way, she was told Kris would be there. She later found out she was going to his home.

The singer, his manager, his male cousin, and a music producer were allegedly there, along with two other girls around Du's age.

Threatened with a boycott?

"I only knew I had to drink when I reached his place. It was around 9pm and they kept getting me to play games and didn't talk about [the audition]. I wanted to leave but his manager didn't allow me to and took my mobile phone away," Du claimed.

"I found a chance to go to the washroom and got my phone back. His manager found out that I had messaged my girlfriends asking them to help me. He told me, Kris would be angry if he wasn't having fun, and that he is very influential in the showbiz industry.

"His manager said it wouldn't be favourable to me if Kris spoke to a few big media platforms and they all boycotted me."

[[nid:536280]]

The manager also allegedly told Du that if she performed well in Kris' music video, she might get a chance to act in his drama or be signed to his talent management agency.

She added that she was pulled back into the living room where several people, Kris included, kept pouring her drinks.

"Kris said I had left [the party] for too long and he wanted to punish me with two cocktails. I didn't dare to fight back. I lost consciousness after a while, and when I woke up, I was on his bed," Du claimed.

In the interview, Du also claimed that Kris never wore condoms with her and the other females, and that there are more than seven females who were affected, including two underaged girls. She added they have evidence of Kris' wrongdoing.

She also claimed Kris gave her 500,000 yuan ($105,000) in hush money, but she's returned about 320,000 yuan so far. She explained she could only transfer the money in instalments due to amount limits in the bank transactions.

According to media reports, several brands in China have disassociated themselves with Kris since yesterday afternoon. Lancome, Kiehl's, snack brand Bestore, and Shanghai-based cosmetics label Kans hid their microblogs with him.

Kans later announced the termination of their co-operation with him, while Tencent Video said they've sent him a contract termination notice. 

'Mr Wu, it's war this time'

While Du originally told NetEase that she would go through legal procedures to see Kris get his just desserts, she issued an ultimatum on her Weibo account last night.

In a very long post presumably addressing Kris, she wrote: "Do you know that the (information) I have on hand now is enough to send you to jail for 10 years?"

She also claimed that some of the females have gone for abortion and also became infected with sexually transmitted diseases because of him.

"Mr Wu, I give you 24 hours to prepare a press conference to announce your retirement from the Chinese showbiz industry. Then you can compensate the companies you worked with, apologise to them, and try to remove all the products and fixtures that carry your face," Du wrote.

"Then, you hand-write an apology letter to all of us victims and post it on your Weibo account for 72 hours. After that, you leave China immediately. You are not worthy to be on this land. You came from Canada, you go back there."

Du also added: "If you don't do these, I can destroy your reputation even without naming the other victims. Go get ready now. Mr Wu, it's war this time."

'I didn't seduce, drug, or rape anyone': Kris

This morning, Kris issued a statement on his Weibo account. He said: "I didn't comment earlier because I didn't want to interfere with the legal proceedings. I didn't expect my silence would allow rumour-mongers to get even worse. I cannot hold it in anymore!

"I've only met Ms Du once at a friend's gathering on Dec 5, 2020. [I] didn't force alcohol on her, didn't take her mobile phone away, and certainly didn't do the things that she described. There were many people at the gathering that day, they can testify to this. I'm very sorry to disturb everyone.

"I never 'selected women'! I didn't seduce, drug, or rape anyone! There were no underage girls. If there were really such behaviour, you can be assured that I will send myself to prison! I take legal responsibility for everything that I say here!"

Kris' agency also announced today that they have sought legal action, adding that Du had contacted them asking for a large sum of money in return for removing her posts.

His official fan club has also declared their support for him over Weibo today.

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com