Kris Wu, a former member of K-pop group EXO, was formally arrested Monday on suspicion of sexual assault.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Chaoyang District in Beijing said in a statement that Wu – identified as a Canadian citizen – was arrested “after investigation in accordance with the law” but did not provide details of charges.
Global Affairs Canada cited the Privacy Act in declining to comment on the case.
Wu, 30, has been in custody since the end of July while authorities probed allegations that he sexually assaulted young females after supplying them with alcohol.
Du Meizhu, 19, accused Wu in an interview with NetEase Entertainment of luring teenage girls into having sex with him by offering opportunities in music or acting. She claimed there are at least seven other victims, including two who were minors at the time of the alleged assaults. (In China, the age of consent is 14 – two years lower than in Canada.)
Du said she was 17 when she was invited to Wu’s house under the pretence of doing an audition. She alleged that she was pressured to consume alcohol and later woke up in his bed. She said Wu paid her 500,000 yuan (approx. $98,000 CAD) for her silence.
In a statement he shared on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, Wu acknowledged meeting Du one time last December. "[I] didn't force alcohol on her ... and certainly didn't do the things that she described. There were many people at the gathering that day, they can testify to this.”
Wu insisted he didn't “seduce, drug, or rape anyone” and said “there were no underage girls. His management company dismissed Du's story as a fabrication and vowed legal action against her for defamation.
If convicted, Wu could be sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison. (Particularly egregious sex crimes in China are punishable by life sentences or death.) Wu could also face deportation to Canada.
Kris Wu: iHeartRadio.ca Music News Coverage
Born Li Jiaheng in China, he later legally changed his Chinese name to Wu Yi Fan. He moved to Vancouver with his mother when he was 10. In 2012, Wu was invited to become a member of EXO, a boy band based in Seoul. He left the group in 2016 and went on to become a wildly popular actor and model in China.
Since being accused of sexual assault, Wu lost endorsement deals and most of the shows in which he appeared were removed from streaming platforms.
Wu had a role in the 2017 made-in-Ontario movie xXx: Return of Xander Cage and was named winner of the Fan Fave New Artist award at the iHeartRadio MMVAs in 2018.