Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu has been detained on suspicion of rape, police in Beijing have said, after being accused of luring young women into sexual relationships.
In July, the former member of K-pop band Exo was publicly accused by a teenager of having sex with her while she was drunk – an allegation he denied.
The teenager said seven other women contacted her to say the 30-year-old seduced them with promises of jobs and other opportunities. She said some were under 18 but did not say if they were younger than China‘s age of consent of 14.
Image: Wu (pictured in 2017) denies the allegations. Pic: AP
In a statement released on Saturday, Beijing police said Wu had been “criminally detained” on suspicion of rape “in response to relevant information reported on the internet” including that he “repeatedly lured young women to have sexual relations”.
No further details were given.
The pop star has previously denied the accusations.
“There was no ‘groupie sex’! There was no ‘underage’!” he wrote on his social media account in July. “If there were this kind of thing, please everyone relax, I would put myself in jail!”
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Wu rose to fame as a member of K-pop band Exo, who formed in 2011 and went on to become one of Korea’s most famous pop bands, alongside the likes of BTS and Blackpink.
The star left in 2014 to pursue a career as a solo artist and as an actor, and made his Hollywood debut alongside Vin Diesel in XXX: Return of Xander Cage in 2017. He has also modelled for Burberry.
News of his arrest was trending as the most searched topic on Chinese social media site Weibo on Saturday night. Some users started commenting on Wu’s social media account, telling him to “Get out of China!”
Wu is a Canadian citizen, according to the police statement.
The allegations against him were first published by the teenage accuser on social media. She later reiterated her claims in an interview with the internet portal NetEase.
The following day, at least 10 brands – including Porsche and Louis Vuitton – dropped endorsement and other deals with Wu.
Wu has previously said that he met the young woman on 5 December 2020 but that “I didn’t force her to drink”, and “there was not this sort of ‘details’ she describes”.
Meanwhile, police said last week that they had arrested a man who attempted to defraud both Wu and his accuser.
The man, surnamed Liu, pretended to be a victim who had had a similar experience with Wu in order to elicit personal information from the teenager. Both she and Wu said they had asked authorities to investigate.
The force’s statement on Saturday did give any information about that case.
Olivia Colman, Javier Bardem, Susan Sarandon and Tilda Swinton are among more than 1,300 filmmakers who are refusing to work with Israeli film companies they say are “implicated in genocide” in Gaza.
Screenwriters, producers, actors and directors have signed a pledge created by Film Makers for Palestine in the latest show of celebrities speaking out against the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
They will boycott Israeli film institutions and companies, which they say are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.
Some of the biggest names in film have signed the pledge, Riz Ahmed, Miriam Margolyes, Juliet Stevenson and Ken Loach also among them.
Writer-directors such as The Lobster director Yorgos Lanthimos and British filmmaker Asif Kapadia, who made documentaries Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona, and producers such as two-time BAFTA winner James Wilson and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy producer Robyn Slovo have also signed the pledge.
Image: The Crown actress Olivia Colman has signed the pledge. Pic: PA
Palme d’Or and BAFTA-winning producer Rebecca O’Brien, who produced I, Daniel Blake with Ken Loach, told Sky News: “For decades, Israeli festivals, broadcasters, and production companies have played their role in masking and justifying Israel’s system of apartheid and its war crimes – some through direct government partnerships.
“I refuse to let my work be used to whitewash a genocide.”
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Israel has repeatedly said its actions in Gaza are justified as a means of self-defence and denied they amount to genocide.
Image: Susan Sarandon, here at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York, has made the pledge. Pic: AP
The boycott pledge urges the industry to “refuse silence, racism, and dehumanisation and to do everything humanly possible to end complicity in their oppression”.
The declaration was inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, founded by award-winning filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme in 1987, which led to more than 100 prominent filmmakers refusing to screen their films in apartheid South Africa.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Annie Lennox, Gary Lineker and Dua Lipa were among the public figures joining leading doctors, academics, campaign groups and a Holocaust survivor.
Image: Bond villain Javier Bardem has also signed
In June, more celebrities added their names to the letter to try to push the government to act after they said nothing had changed.
At the time, a UK government spokesman said it “strongly” opposes Israel’s military expansion in Gaza and called on the Israeli government to “cease its offensive and immediately allow for unfettered access to humanitarian aid”.
The spokesman also said the government suspended export licences to Israel last year “for items used in military operations in Gaza” and called for a ceasefire agreement.
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Israeli PM speaks after Jerusalem attack
More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Strip since the war began, Hamas-run Gaza health authorities say.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel, when militants killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages.
Of the 48 hostages still held in Gaza, 20 are believed to still be alive.
Over the past few weeks, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have been preparing to intensify the war after the government vowed to gain full military control of Gaza to defeat Hamas.
Rick Davies, a founding member of the British rock group Supertramp, has died.
The 81-year-old, who had been battling multiple myeloma – a type of blood cancer – for the last decade, died on Saturday, a statement from the band said.
The band’s lead singer wrote many of their hits, including Breakfast In America and The Logical Song, alongside Roger Hodgson.
Image: Supertramp’s Richard Davies, Roger Hodgson, Richard Palmer, Robert Millar and David Winthrop. Pic: PA
The band’s statement, posted with a photo of Davies walking his dog by the sea and soundtrack of Goodbye Stranger, paid tribute to both his musical legacy and his warm personality.
The statement read: “As co-writer, along with partner Roger Hodgson, he was the voice and pianist behind Supertramp’s most iconic songs, leaving an indelible mark on rock music history.
“His soulful vocals and unmistakable touch on the Wurlitzer became the heartbeat of the band’s sound.”
“Beyond the stage, Rick was known for his warmth, resilience, and devotion to his wife Sue, with whom he shared over five decades,” the band said.
“After facing serious health challenges, which kept him unable to continue touring as Supertramp, he enjoyed performing with his hometown buds as Ricky and the Rockets.
“Rick’s music and legacy continue to inspire many and bear testament to the fact that great songs never die, they live on.”
Born in Swindon, Wiltshire, in 1944, Davies’s love of music began in his childhood, the group said, listening to Gene Krupa’s Drummin’ Man, which sparked a lifelong passion for jazz, blues and rock ‘n’ roll.
Davies and Hodgson formed the band that would become Supertramp in 1969.
Image: (L-R) Rick Davies and John Helliwell in 2002. Pic Reuters
The line-up changed numerous times over the years, with the band best remembered for the period from 1973 to 1983, when Davies and Hodgson performed with Dougie Thomson on bass, Bob Siebenberg on drums and John Helliwell on saxophone.
Crime of the Century, their breakthrough album, came out in 1974, followed by their biggest hit in 1979 with Breakfast In America, and hit singles The Logical Song, Breakfast in America, Goodbye Stranger and Take the Long Way Home.
Amid creative disputes, Hodgson left the band to go solo in 1983. Davies eventually became the only constant member throughout its history.
While a reunion tour was announced in 2015, it was cancelled when Davies was diagnosed with cancer.
He settled a royalties lawsuit in 2023 after a long-running dispute with ex-bandmates. Just last month, a US appeals court ruled that Hodgson must share royalties for three of Supertramp’s songs with his ex-bandmates.
Davies leaves behind his wife Sue, who had managed the band since the mid-80s.
Lady Gaga has led the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with four wins including artist of the year. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter took three awards each.
It was a night dominated by women, with female stars bagging all the awards, with the exception of Bruno Mars for his collaborations with Gaga and Blackpink member Rose.
Mariah Carey collected her first-ever VMA award, swiftly followed by a second when she was awarded the Video Vanguard award.
And tribute was paid to Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July, with Yungblud and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry performing Black Sabbath classics, introduced by Jack Osbourne and his four daughters.