Wer ist kris wu

Reuters in Beijing

A Beijing court has sentenced the Chinese-born Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in jail after finding him guilty of crimes including rape, just over a year after his arrest in China, where he was born and built a lucrative career.

The court in Chaoyang district said investigations showed that from November to December 2020, Wu, also known as Wu Yifan, raped three women.

“Wu Yifan took advantage of three drunken women … at his home,” the court said on its official WeChat account.

A former member of the K-pop group Exo, the superstar returned to China in 2014 to pursue a solo career.

Wu was detained in Beijing on 31 July 2021 after an 18-year-old Chinese student publicly accused him of inducing her and other girls, some aged under 18, to have sex with him.

At the time, the student told media Wu had lured her into having sex when she was 17, after having plied her with alcohol.

The court also found him guilty of the crime of assembling a crowd to engage in sexual promiscuity in July 2018, it said.

The Canadian embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, though state media said its officials had attended the sentencing.

Wu was also ordered to pay 600m yuan (£69m) for hiding personal income and other tax-related offences, the tax bureau said.

Wu evaded 95m yuan of tax from 2019 to 2020 by hiding personal income through domestic and foreign affiliated enterprises, and underpaid taxes of 84m yuan, authorities said.

At the time of his detention, Wu was an ambassador for 15 brands, including Bulgari, Lancôme, Louis Vuitton and Porsche, all of which immediately severed ties with him.

The court said Wu would be deported, although lawyers in China have said such deportations typically take place after completion of the sentence.

Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu has been jailed for 13 years after being found guilty of sex crimes.

A court in Beijing convicted the 32-year-old singer and actor of raping three women and assembling a crowd to engage in an orgy.

He was arrested last year after being accused of date-rape by a student, before 24 more victims spoke out.

The court said he would be deported - although deportations in China usually take place after sentences are served.

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Beijing's Chaoyang district court said on Friday that Wu would serve 11 years and six months for raping three women at his home in 2020 "when they were drunk and did not know or not able to resist".

He also received a sentence of one year and 10 months for "gathering people to commit adultery", the court added.

The first to accuse him was student Du Meizhu, who last year posted on social media that she had met Mr Wu two years earlier, when she was 17.

She said she had been invited to a party at his home, where she was pressured to drink alcohol and woke up in his bed the next day.

Mr Wu denied the claims, but at least 24 more victims accusing him of predatory behaviour. He was accused of inviting women to alcohol-fuelled karaoke parties.

The singer also faces a 600m yuan (£69m) tax evasion fine. State news agency Xinhua said he used a fictitious business to make false declarations about his worldwide income.

Mr Wu, who was born in China but has Canadian nationality, shot to fame as a member of the K-pop boyband EXO in the 2010s.

He became one of China's biggest celebrities after carving a solo career as a singer, actor, model and variety show judge.

However, brands including Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, L'Oreal Men and Porsche have suspended their partnerships with Mr Wu over the case.