Sasha

It's pretty serious. This boycott has lasted 6 months and is still ongoing.

I don't think he deserves this treatment. But this is China and idol culture is that the idol pays for the fan's mistakes. The Chinese people still believe he is at least partially at fault for his delayed response. I'm sure he has his own reasons why he couldn't speak out early. But look at it him- he desperately wants to come out and act but no one allows him. They've all ignored him. Even his close friends Yibo and Wang Talu cannot do anything for him.

I feel that if he could get his works aired online, then it would make it easier for him to return. He is a decent actor and the release of Oath of Love and The Wolf could greatly help him return. But they keep getting delayed over and over again. It tells me that Chinese industry has no faith in him.

I think had he released the last apology and instructions for fans that Weibo advised him to on February 24, maybe this could've been prevented. He had 4 crucial days to speak out but for some reason he didn't or wasn't able to. He lost the chance to quickly quiet down the situation and is clearly pressured to leave now.

They confirmed that he did not sign a contract for the second season of Joy of Life. I think this means he has been replaced with another actor.

Hi janec, Do you live in China? I understand what you are saying. But don't you think that China is in general blacklisting him for real? Oath of Love and The Wolf have no exact release date and keep getting postponed. His name cannot be mentioned on TV stations. People are still harassing and boycotting anything related to him. As a fan, I am actually really concerned about his future. Look at the boycott- it's been 6 months. The impact of 227 has undeniably prevented him from being seen in the public to promote his work. Many people called out his fans and said that they destroyed their own idol. They also heavily criticized his decision to delay his apology and the situation was not resolved quickly. I think it is so unfair for him but it's clear that China does want him to leave. When I read articles on Sina or Sohu, they're just all filled with negativity. Many of them say that he has no future and his career is over. Because this scandal has reached an unprecedented level and affected too many people including bystanders. I'm actually really sad for him and I feel so much regret because I believe he deserves a second chance to make a full comeback and prove himself. I don't know if making another apology would be enough for the industry to accept him again. Like unless he goes and begs authorities to help him return to TV, it would be near impossible for him to come back. I spoke to someone who is in China and she said that right now, only his fans are supporting him. Everyone else in China hates him and see him as a bad role model.

I understand why people would feel angry over him and his fans. But I feel he deserves a second chance. Maybe he didn't lead his fans well in the past. Maybe he could've spoken out earlier to prevent the situation from worsening. But if people give him a second chance, he can become a better idol and actor for China. The worrying thing for me is that people have made up their minds about him and the industry and brands have turned their back on him.

After reading more into the situation, I actually think the situation is a lot worse than you realize. People called him out for not speaking out earlier in February. And then they said that his first apology wasn't sincere enough to appease the public and angry fanfiction users. Eventually that combined with the mistake of his fan reporting the fanfic, allowed the professional antis and fans of rival idols to come together to take him down by promoting the boycott. There are no set release dates for any of his current dramas. Every single thing he does is boycotted. All the major brands have stated that they don't want to work with him again. Even a brand that terminated their contract with him said that they weren't sure if they would still get boycotted due to association with Xiao Zhan. A lot of industry professionals also stated that it's not hard to find a replacement for Xiao Zhan since there are so many idols and actors coming out every year. While I believe that he did nothing wrong and his team simply couldn't handle the scale of the situation, this has almost completely destroyed his future. That's why his fans keep desperately buying his things and remaining endorsements because they want to support him but also to keep him relevant to businesses. The only thing keeping him afloat is his large fanbase. It's very difficult for him to return when there is such a huge scandal that affected so many people in China. From what I read online, it seems that people believe that even if he had two more great works like The Untamed, it would be difficult for him to restore the star status he had before the ban and 227.

But the big issue is that the people are upset at the way he handled the whole situation. They believe that he should've made his apologies in February. They also thought his first apology wasn't enough considering the level of impact. I don't know how he can make a comeback considering the whole public and industry is indeed looking down on him.

But the thing is, in idol culture, the idol takes the blame for his/her fans (and yes I think it's unfair). So even though Xiao Zhan really didn't do anything, the whole industry sees him responsible for allowing this case to blow up quickly. We may never know what his exact reasons are for the delay in response but I'm sure his grandfather's passing and covid-19 played a role. As an idol, he is considered old since he's almost 30. He's an anomaly because he was able to surpass the bias against age and become famous and popular solely due to acting and vocal talent. He is trying to make a return, but he keeps getting resisted by others. His future really is in shambles because even his current works might not get aired on TV. I heard all three dramas are to be released as web dramas due to the AO3 ban and 227 group. The Oath of Love was supposed to be his TV drama debut, but now it's gone. He's popular now, but to stay relevant, he has to keep acting in good dramas and appear on variety shows. He hasn't been invited to any and his scenes were even cut from a variety show after protests. It's sad..

He's super popular but he also have huge haters coming at him every second. There are definitely big corporations behind this too. But his future is really in trouble.

Do they even want Xiao Zhan in the sequel? There's a whole witch hunt at him for the last few months and everyone's trying to push him out of the industry thanks to some stupid fanfiction chaos.

Xiao Zhan has been suffering for the last 6 months. :(

Yes it's only for 2021 dramas. The trailers for The Wolf and The Oath of Love have already been shown to the public. But we didn't see Douluo Continent's trailer and Tencent announced the sequel for Douluo Continent :/

Don't! Xiao Zhan needs our support during this difficult time.

It's because Korea loves Wang Talu. Xiao Zhan also has some Korean fans after they watched his drama The Untamed. But Korea can't release The Wolf until it's actually aired in China. Even Thailand is waiting for The Wolf to get released.

I have a question for you. Do you think that Xiao Zhan can overcome this crisis after TOOL and The Wolf gets aired in China? I only see bad news about him and from what I heard from even fans, they tell me that despite him not doing anything it'll be hard for him to get better roles in the future because of his fans. I heard his mom asked him to leave the industry but he still wanted to give it a try.

All of you just stop fighting. Fan wars and fighting are the reason why actors get in trouble.

Thai TV is waiting for the drama to be released in China in order to release it in Thailand. Every country outside of China is just waiting.

I hope he is able to return one day to the screen. He didn't do anything wrong to deserve the hate and death threats. But if he chooses to leave the industry in the future, I will understand. I just want to see him happy again.