A Chinese-Canadian star’s fall from K-pop grace

Kris Wu, the massively famous pop star, moved from China to Canada when he was 10 and grew up in Vancouver. Back then his name was Kevin Li. He was the child of a single mother who didn’t have much money, a fashion-conscious kid who liked to hang out with teenagers who were older and cooler. When Li was almost 17, he auditioned with SM Entertainment, a talent agency that was scouring Vancouver for the next big thing. SM saw star potential in Wu and shipped him off to an “idol” academy in Seoul to train in singing, dancing and rapping, in the hopes of achieving K-pop stardom.

The writer Yvonne Lau brilliantly details what happened next in her account of Kris Wu’s rise and fall for Maclean’s. The story she tells is about the mechanics of global fame and the corrupting power that accompanies it. In 2022, Wu was found guilty of sexual misconduct and is now in prison. But the story is also about the way the Chinese government involves itself in every aspect of celebritydom: to promote its beloved pop stars, as a kind of national branding exercise, but also to erase the footprint of a celebrity, totally and completely, if that star is no longer useful. Lau’s article is a fascinating window into several hidden worlds.

—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief

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