X-Men Movie Star Reemerges After Tax Scandal

Fan Bingbing has begun making her return to public life following a tax scandal that saw her disappear from the public eye for months. The actress return to social media to promote her new line of beauty products. She also appeared on the red carpet at the ninth-anniversary celebration of social media company iQiyi. This public return follows Fan’s return to acting for Jessica Chastain’s upcoming film 355.

Fan is best known in the United States for playing Blink in X-Men: Days of Future Past. She is the Chinese film industry’s biggest star. Reports about her sudden disappearance suggested that she was in trouble with the Chinese government over tax evasion charges and may have been banned from acting. She reportedly owed about $125 million in back taxes.

An article in the state-run outlet Securities Daily suggested that she was “under control” and that she would “accept the legal decision,” though the article was quickly taken down.

A Hong Kong tabloid called The Apple Daily previously suggested that Fan was spotted at an immigration office in Los Angeles, reportedly seeking sanctuary at the urging of martial arts film star Jackie Chan. Those reports were not corroborated, but media watchdog sites covering China have noted that the government seemed to have been censoring reports of Fan’s disappearance.

The idea that Fan was in trouble for tax evasion came after Chinese TV presenter Cui Yongyuan revealed images implying that Fan had taken part in a practice called a “yin-yang contract,” where someone signs multiple contracts for the same job and uses the contract with a lower value in their taxes, keeping more of the money as a result.

Cui posted several images on a social media account and said those were copies of different contracts signed by Fan relating to the same job. Fan denies that this is the case and has hired a legal team to refute the claims in court, but the practice itself isn’t uncommon.

In June, China announced that it was launching a full investigation into the country’s film and television industry, specifically with regards to yin-yang contracts. The bureau for taxation wants to put an end to the practice, but they did not initially name Fan in their official statement of intent. The investigations are to be carried out by local taxation offices in the southern province of Jiangsu as well as other offices.

What do you think of the situation surrounding Fan Bingbing? Let us know in the comments.

(h/t Variety)

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