Fan Bingbing Suspected of Zhang Ziyi Scandal
By wchung | 01 Apr, 2026

Rumor Mill: A prominent playwright may have implicated a rival actress in the Zhang Ziyi scandal.

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing is suspected of having a hand in the alleged fabrication of the rumors that Zhang Ziyi had paid sex with Bo Xilai and other rich and powerful men.

A blog by a prominent Chinese film critic is seen as suggesting that film siren Fan Bingbing manufactured the rumor that Zhang Ziyi had engaged in highly-paid prostitution with former Chongqing Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai, among various other wealthy and powerful men.

“A movie star” started false rumors that Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi slept with Bo Xilai in exchange for over $100 million, blogged famous Chinese playwright and film critic Bi Chenggong.

Zhang Ziyi was the star to whom Bi was referring, concluded Taiwan-based Chinese-language newspaper Want Daily. Both Bi and Fan have denied the allegation.

On Friday Zhang announced intention to file suit against the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily and other persons and entities behind the rumor.

Bi’s May 31 microblog said that the Zhang scandal was the product of a conspiracy set in motion some time ago.

“While ruthlessly attacking someone who is better than herself, she forgot to make herself stronger,” wrote Bi. “Therefore, no matter how relentlessly she attacks her opponent, she is still inferior.”

The unnamed movie star has appeared in international film festivals and secured endorsements for many major brands, said Bi. Apparently determined to paint the guilty party as a has-been, Bi added that no one in the film industry wants her to star in new films and that she hasn’t been working much lately. That rumor-mongering star, not Zhang, is being kept as a mistress by a man with money.

Bi’s post seems to have opened the spigots on attacks on Fan. Posts are now accusing her of clawing her way up the show business industry at the expense of others. She is also being characterized as having been rejected by the industry.

Actress Li Bingbing — seen as a fierce Fan rival — posted on Zhang’s microblog encouraging her to take legal action to protect herself and clear the air.

Bi is now backpedaling from the accusations interpreted as referring to Fan. He has deleted the microblog post and is denying that he was referring to Fan.

In response to queries from reporters, Fan’s studio said there was no reason for her to respond. Calls to Fan’s manager Mu Xiaoguang weren’t returned.

Zhang, 33, and Fan, 30, rose in the Chinese-language film scene at around the same time. Zhang became a Zhang Yimou protégé before becoming an international star with the success of Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Fan’s first big success was in the TV series My Fair Princess.