absurd

I am not sure why you feel the need to argue, since none of us actually disputed that XZ is very popular. The whole comparison in general is so pointless, IMO. They are both great artists in their own right and also (hopefully still) friends. It's not like one of them being successful takes away from the other's success. Spreading rumors is not the way to go, spread love :)))

I don't think he's unpopular. The trailer for this drama posted on some official Chinese platform (I don't really know which, sorry) has 200 million views (baidu says), if that's unpopular, then I don't what people would consider popular then.
My comment was not meant negatively, I replied directly to what was posted, my meaning: "he's not unpopular, just has less public appearances, so it might seem like Yibo is more successful". In my opinion, being silent for half a year and still having the kind of impact he has, actually speaks volumes to the amount of his influence.
In fact from what I've seen, it seems that the the whole "scandal" thing was blown out of proportion by the press, while in reality it died down pretty soon after it happened. Press just keeps brining it up as if he's the only famous person who has haters. Everyone has haters, people just need to stop paying attention to them.

I don't think it's a question of popularity, it's just that Wang Yibo has more projects now and is more visible (sometimes I feel like his management is actually going too far with the amount of endorsements he has, does the poor kid even have time to sleep?).
But in terms of fanbase, there isn't much difference. It also feels like Xiao Zhan (at last for now) prefers to be more lowkey, which is understandable.