A Singaporean actress has come under fire on Chinese social media platform RedNote after online users alleged she was the speaker in a leaked audio clip describing Chinese nationals as “idiots”.
According to national broadsheet The Straits Times, Eleanor Lee, the 25-year-old China-based celebrity and daughter of Singaporean TV host Quan Yifeng, is said to have been removed from the cast list of a coming Chinese period drama, The Journey of Legend, because of the accusations.
Tensions flared when an anonymous online user, who claimed to be Lee’s ex-assistant, uploaded a 31-second audio recording on RedNote. The speaker can be heard saying that she is not doing this to become famous but for the money, before proceeding to describe receiving negative publicity because Chinese people, by and large, are “idiots”.
“All that matters is that there are movies to be filmed and money to be made. What else can I do?” the speaker said. “When it is over, I still get criticised, just because most Chinese nationals are idiots.”
In response to the audio clip, online users criticised Lee for insulting China, with some even threatening to “cancel” the actress.