Trigger warning – this article discusses the extremes this can lead to.
If you are a victim of bullying, and is experiencing distress, please reach out to a support group.
There are many horrible screenshots of comments and curses which I have included, which may be very upsetting to read. This article is actually for the fans who still have Zhang Zhe han’s best interests at heart, whom I hope can help to speak some sense into those you can reach out to, in order to stop them from being made use of by Black PR any further.
I hope that at least out here, no one can wipe out the traces of what Zhang Zhe han, his family and his friends have had to endure. And this is just literally the tip of the iceberg.
Who:
Zhang Zhe han is a victim of rival competitor(s)’s frame-up.
How:
Slandering his character, reputation and political stance.
Those who have engaged water armies to bring him down, worked together with CAPA – who has a monopoly of the C ent industry, to cancel him
Where:
He faced cancellation in his career and unfair boycott in not only the China’s acting industry, but he suffered ‘social death’ – unable to even use his name in his daily life in something as basic as shopping apps.
When:
Since August 2021
Why:
Mr Li Xue Zheng and Zhang Zhe han has shared that this was done by rival competitor(s), presumably to remove him as an obstacle in their career / profits
What ( he suffered ):
He and his family continue to face intense cyberbullying – branded ‘traitor’, ‘JR 精日’.
Any family, friends, fans or even ‘strangers’ who dared to show support for him openly, gets targeted as well.
Platforms under CAPA ‘help’ by silencing these voices.
This has extended beyond China’s cyberspace, and gone onto a global scale, led by accounts pretending to be fighting for his cause, but in truth, are leading ‘fans’ to continue to harm him daily. It is harrowing to think that in order for their deeds to remain hidden, the people behind 813 will not let up and stop what they have done to him. By driving him or his fans to despair, they want to stop Zhang Zhe han from voicing out so that their misdeeds will not come to light.
Bullying.
It happens everywhere.
In all aspects in our lives. In school, at work, in cyberspace…
It can happen with different ages, across different races, genders, cultures…
What are the common basic factors?
Singling out someone for being different.
There is usually more than one bully.
The victim is often intimidated into silence.
If a victim tries to fight back, the victim’s words are dismissed and prevented from being heard.
In China’s cyberspace, under CAPA’s conveniently positioned network of platforms, the cyberbullying of Zhang Zhe han continues on, a year after his unfair cancellation.
Accounts that help to spread awareness regarding his case gets muted frequently.
Accounts of his family and friends are targeted and harassed.
Accounts under his brand EhzZ which shares his latest updates gets muted over and over.
Over the past year, we have seen this word ‘cyberbullying’, used this word so often, that perhaps some people have become desensitized by it. These people disregard the mental anguish of victims of cyberbullying. They might even take part in it, thoughtlessly lashing out hateful word after word.
Some Black PR even try to push the narrative that if a person tried to pick themselves up after being knocked down, what they went through is ‘not that bad’. But if he had remained broken and gloomy, hidden away from public view, he would be ‘pathetic and weak’.
What is a victim supposed to do?
There have been high profile cases of cyberbullying in the past months, which have led to victims taking their own lives.
Cyberbullying can kill. Still kills.
So who are to blame for these events? The news media who may have carried out unethical reporting? The netizens for their ‘opinions’ and hateful words?
刘学州 ： “刘学州去世后，有舆论质疑《新京报》事前的报道内容片面、未经查证，间接导致了后续的网络暴力以及刘学州的自杀，有网友要求该报出面道歉和担责。”
曾颖 Zeng Ying was reported as someone who was already suffering from depression, but after her patriotism was called into question and netizens piled on with hateful comments, it was reported that she left a suicide note and there is no further news updates on her situation. Even after news of her suicide was reported, comments goading her and celebrating her suicide, continued to pour in.
Why there seems something not quite right with Gong Jun – the Word Of Honor co-star Zhang Zhe han had alluded to as the ‘oil pourer’ who is keeping him from freeing himself from the bottom of the pot.
As a celebrity who had repeatedly made claims that he comes from humble 十八线 backgrounds, his agency Haixi hardly seem to be a lightweight in C ent.
Gong Jun’s fans can cyberbully people online, but the victims are the ones who get silenced.
On May 6 2022, 郝景芳 Hao Jing Fang, the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novelette wrote that on May 5, she had received a message about rumors that she will soon be suing Gong Jun’s fans, and she had plans to ‘create trouble on May 6’. To her shock, by the same evening, her weibo and we-chat account seemed to have been pre-emptively muted without her doing anything.
Hao Jing Fang said that she actually had no plans to do any such thing, but since she was accused of having intentions to stir up trouble, she decided to use her office’s wechat account to publish an essay to clarify what kind of cyberviolence she had met at the hands of Gong Jun fans for the past year, since her May 6 2021 casual review for [ Word Of Honor ].
She stated her timeline of being cyberbullied over the past year, by Gong Jun fans, on numerous ‘occasions’.
She had been targeted on 813 2021 for praising Zhang Zhe han’s acting in her essay last May. She had once mentioned that she would like to cast both Zhang Zhe Han and Gong Jun in her new novel.
Nov 2021 – she recommended a drama The Long Night 【沉默的真相】as part of her yearly review, and antis attacked her by interpreting her drama choice as ‘support for Zhang Zhe han’.
Dec 2021 – Gong Jun was not nominated in for 华鼎奖 Huading Awards for Best Actor in Period drama. As a result, a conspiracy that she and the Word of Honor Production team had conspired to make GJ look bad in her May 6 review, which resulted in him being passed over.
That awards night, the reviews for her new book on douban had many 1 star reviews which brought down her average.
Feb 2022 – Hao Jing Fang was attacked again under the anniversary post by Producer Ma 马韬.
Mar 2022 – Hao Jing Fang confirms that Actor Zhang started a wechat blog account and mentioned that in one of his essays, he wrote “真实的力量远大于完美” a famous quote by Dr Zhang Pei Chao 张沛超.
She clarified that Dr Zhang Pei Chao is someone she knows well. She also knows Mr Wang Yong of Hong Fan Law Institute through work. Mr Wang Yong has met Zhang Zhe han after getting interested in his case. She said that she is not part of a fan management group for Zhang Zhe han which is being spread by conspiracists.
May 5 There is new conspiracies which said she will be posting something negative about Gong Jun’s fans on the anniversary of the date she was first cyberbullied. By 10pm that night, both her weibo and wechat blog have been muted.
She shown the evidence that both times the lawyers she had engaged had confirmed that the accounts which have been cyberbullying her and slandering her reputation by spreading misinformation, are Gong Jun’s fans.
This clearly goes against the new guidelines which started in August last year, that stated celebrities must take responsibility of how their fans behave. However, it was clear in this situation that, Gong Jun did not do so and Hao Jin Fang’s accounts were the ones which was muted.
Her wechat essay was soon gone from the platform.
Some people tried to make her situation known, but she was effectively silenced on this matter.
One would expect that a Hugo Awards winner novelist, puts her reputation on the line by voicing out that she was being cyberbullied by the fans of a celebrity, would be reported by at least some media outlets. However, nothing was reported except for a few weibo accounts who tried to speak up on her behalf while she was muted.
Even Yang Mi, a top billed actress in C ent, also got a taste of his toxic fandom recently.
Last year two large fandoms and their celebrities had a talking to for a lack of guidance for their fans. However, the truth is, while accounts doing clarifications for Zhang Zhe han faced muting every other day, always faced traffic restrictions, deletion of accounts by weibo, Gong Jun fans seem to be able to do as they pleased.
Hot search hashtags such as 龚俊粉丝邪教式追星 倒油 gets deleted within in a very short time.
One cannot help but wonder, what is the powerful backing that Gong Jun possesses?
造谣一张嘴，辟谣跑断腿
Every fan who is pained by what happened to Zhang Zhehan on 813 2021, should know this.
It only takes a mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a great deal of effort to clear the air.
On weibo, ‘fans’ cursed Xie Yi Hua, Chen Li Ying, Chen Qun Ying, even Zhang Su for their involvement and support for EhzZ. On Twitter, black PR accounts taunt and hurl groundless accusations, and claim that it must be true because no statements to counter their words were released.
We should always bear in mind that, just because someone looks strong on the outside, we should not overlook the mental anguish faced by people who are being bullied. Even if Zhang Zhe han looks like he is doing well currently, we should not overlook the long term effects of consistent cyberbullying. Especially when the cyberviolence is affecting people he care for – his family, his friends and people who are helping him – how are their mental states? We cannot know.
Outside on Twitter, since many i-fans had language barriers, many have willingly locked themselves within a comfortable echo chamber of lies, together with a band of instigators and extreme CP fans.
The instigators / Black PR / antis / PPH 披皮黑
There are the same group of instigators who try to wear down their followers, getting between them and preventing them from recognizing Zhang Zhe han.
One of the main pillars in this group of five have left – Teddyfoxfluff, who had done articles in an effort to clear Zhang Zhe han’s name, had left out the Instagram updates in her June article, and now no longer appears with this group.
They know that Zhang Zhe han needs fans especially when he could not work for so long, it is not easy to sustain a stable fandom without actual new projects. So why are they working so hard to take away fans from his fandom?
Antis on weibo have claimed to get rid of all Zhang Zhe han fans within one year. These antis must be frustrated that there is still many of us left.
This group also appears to be taking the stand that ‘it is ok even if the CP is not real’ – thereby trying to condition their followers not to turn against Gong Jun when the truth is eventually undeniable.
This account saying that “Gong Jun willingly limited himself? “
In what ways did he limit himself? What opportunities did he cut himself off?
Thanks to the success of Word of Honor, Gong Jun had managed to film 4 new dramas within a year, saw two new and two old (2017) dramas get aired. However, it appeared that none of these dramas became a hit or gained him new fans. Did she mean that he limited himself to S dramas where he got second billing to actresses with more star power?
Gong Jun even became the boss of a new media company in March 2022.
Their narrative :
“CAPA IS THE ONLY ENEMY“
They don’t bother saying why an association decided to cancel a celebrity. They don’t emphasize that Mr Li Xue Zheng had said its rival competitors which is responsible.
They also disregard Mr Li’s new weibo account 金盾云学院 which had been muted yet again.
They don’t want their followers to start questioning who the rival competitors could be. Gong Jun’s agency, Haixi is the only agency which has a high profile connection to CAPA, but they avoid any mention of this. Instead, they presented numerous charts and graphs to persuade their followers they know insider details, and connect the people around Zhang Zhe han to CAPA instead.
“ZHANG ZHE HAN’s PROCEDURAL JUSTICE is the most important“
They convinced their followers that, while waiting for his case to proceed, Zhang Zhe han is not supposed to be able to do anything to help himself.
His appearance and re-engagement of fans who are important to him, is dismissed as ‘rubbish’.
Zhang Zhe han, who could not carry on his biking plans to Tibet due to the pandemic, instead managed to accomplish a difficult feat to climb Baha mountain in Yunnan. They claim that the biking trip demonstrates how CAPA is ‘smearing’ his name by hiring ‘body doubles’ for him and his good buddy, Xiao yu, but does not really explain how a feat like this damages ZZH’s reputation.
According to them, as long as Zhang Zhe han is not cowering at home, in fear of his life from the reaches of CAPA, it is ‘just not logical’.
“ZHANG ZHE HAN IS UNCONTACTABLE BY ANYONE
ZHANG MAMA no longer owns Bao Deng Yuan“
After months of a ‘fake’ person running his verified Instagram account, Zhang Zhe han apparently don’t know, can’t do a single thing about it.
These black PR know that they cannot convince people that ZMM will turn against ZZH, so they also pushed her out of the picture. But they have posited that that is not Zhang mama’s letter, because it ‘makes ZZH look bad to be living off his mother.’ They way, eventually they can push ahead to make Zhang Zhe han into the figure they have been crafting.
This also meets their goal to dissuade fans to purchase Bao Deng Yuan teas which may help fund Zhang Zhe han’s eventual comeback.
They encourage their followers to dismiss the voice of Zhang Zhe han.
At a time when he needs more people to listen to him, to give him hope and support, these accounts help to push the lost sheep away.
So according to these accounts, CAPA who took such pains to erase Zhang Zhe han in China, made sure to create an elaborate ploy with Xie YH using deep-fake technology, body doubles, to release ‘a fake Zhang Zhe han’ on the international platform, in order to sell a clothing line in China. And somehow CAPA wants to track engagement of fans with ‘their fake ZZH’, in order to see ROI ( Return of investment )… They invested money to gain control of his IG, create deep-fakes to make money when the real man at the height of his success, made even more money for every endorser he had worked for.
This user might as well say, CAPA wants to conduct a social experiment to test fan loyalty to a beloved cancelled celebrity?
AGAINST ZHANG SAN JIAN
” Zhang San Jian is a bad PR move by Xie Yi hua and this will hurt Zhang Zhe han’s reputation. “
” The IG is not Zhang Zhe han, its the double ZSJ “
” ZZH would not be selling merch at this time”
” ZSJ is a ugly, cheap imitator”
The moment ZSJ appeared, this group were on high alert.
They had been laying down the groundwork to paint ZSJ in a negative light over the months, and seeing how some followers are fully believing their words, they have succeeded.
They use repeated negative words like toxic, malicious to describe their version of the Zhang San Jian persona.
“THE CHENS are bad, XIE YI HUA is bad, CAPA minions, Shenzhen gang;
Zhang Mama, Xiao Yu are also body doubles and Lufei is fake“
“Everything is fake”
This group have consistently slandered the ‘Chen Ah Yi’ since she helped let ZSJ’s first essay be known to Zhang Zhe han fans back in March. They had claimed that she had ‘kicked’ Zhang mama out of her own house and moved in with Kele the cat.
This Twitter user has two pics which was supposed to ‘prove’ wrongdoing by ‘Aunt Chen’ on Aug 15 2021.
However, the weibo account screenshot she posted is nothing more than an unverified weibo account which used the name of the registered company.
Anyone can use any ID name on weibo as long as that name is not taken ( excluding banned words ).
This account she claims is registered by ‘Aunt Chen’ for Bao Deng Yuan on Aug 13 is male.
There has been zero posts.
It is not even a blue V account like the official BDY account, , which confirms the company is the identity of the account owner.
In the information bubble where her followers are trapped, she successfully used this paper-thin lie to incite her followers to begin cursing this Aunt Chen.
She encourages doubt and sows distrust by letting her followers to continue to draw their own conclusions. In the pic she took from Tian yan cha 天眼查 she has conveniently not commented that in the orange information tab, that this teashop has already been unregistered on 2021.11.08. She does not correct her followers who think that ‘this teashop’ has continued to make money off fans.
That does look like it is the same Chen Ah yi who posed with Zhang Zhe han, Zhang mama, Xiao yu, Lexus and Kele the cat, in the group pic on July 17 – day of the impromptu fanmeet.
These people are happy when what appears to be Chen Li Ying’s weibo account is closed on Sep 5. They have harassed and cyberbullied someone dear to Zhang Zhe han and basically ran her off weibo. Yet they feel justified and think they did a good thing – because ‘she was taking advantage of Zhang Zhe han’. This kind of harm they have inflicted just because they believed in what they were told, they are exactly the very people that Zhang Zhe han had to mention in his letter and his video, and urge them to stop.
“NOBODY IS THERE TO HELP ZHANG ZHE HAN”
“Everyone has ties to CAPA or Xie Yi Hua
His friends – Zhang Su, Lexus, Meng Duo, Mark have their own agendas”
They literally go after every single person who have openly been supporting Zhang Zhe han or Zhang San Jian. Even when the account 斗地主的武大师 they had tried to slander and exposed his personal details went on to visit Mr Li Xue Zheng in Beijing, they dismissed that photo completely.
Nobody is spared. Writer Hu liu ming is an old lady in her 70s, one of the first literary respected heavyweight who had helped to clear the Dewi Sukarno rumor. But ever since she stated clearly that she supports ZZH, ZSJ and EhzZ, CP fans have turned against her and harassed her as well.
They also target 上海成雨, especially now that his account has been muted yet again.
So someone who persisted to engage with antis, to keep discussing and clarification of Zhang Zhe han’s case, is ‘allowing the smears to continue’.
But should people stop discussing his case all together? If Zhang Zhe han is forgotten, will the smearing end? Will he be able to get that all important ‘justice’ then?
This account wants to suggest that Meng Duo posted about Zhang Zhe han, or ZSJ as she likes to distinguish as ‘fake’, for increased traffic. This display of solidarity might have cost his account to have been briefly muted.
But this user purposely did not mention Zhang Zhe han’s Happy birthday message for his bro, from the top of Yunnan’s Mt. Haba on Aug 18.
Anti-cult indoctrination? These accounts are running a cult which is continuing to harass Zhang Zhe han and his family and friends for free. She is right in that they are continuing their brain-washing on a daily basis, not letting up, lest their followers slip out of their grasps and manage to free themselves.
CP fans / Junzhe fans / hardcore shippers
The ‘fans’ that Zhang Zhe han had cut off in his May 4 video – the frightening ‘daughters’ of junzhe.
They claim that ‘ZSJ fans’ don’t care about justice or clearing ZZH’s name – they declared that as fact, just as they have claimed that ‘Junzhe is real’.
And because of their ‘trust’ in GJ and that ‘GJ is good’, they reject anything which goes against this belief, therefore ‘ZSJ is bad’.
They go about creating fandom problems on weibo, fighting with other fandoms and dragging Zhang Zhehan’s name into fights, sabotage his comeback, whether indirectly or on purpose, is unclear.
They are aware of the very strict BL ban and how strict things are in C ent to avoid male-CP topics, but they pretend not to notice that Gong Jun is immune to these guidelines, and have not ceased marketing towards the CP fans who still make up a large part of his fan base.
There are CP fans who believe in Zhang mama’s letter, so they hate her for ‘breaking their CP’.
There are also CP fans who also hate ZSJ because he is breaking their CP.
But most are still waiting for the return of Zhang Zhe han.
Most are only using Zhang Zhe han as the star in their CP fantasy.
They don’t seem very invested in helping in his comeback in their daily activities.
Some fans were incensed when Zhang Zhe han’s Instagram well-wishes for Mid Autumn Festival did not include Gong jun in the picture.
Since ZZH had drawn a clear line between him and stated he had no further contact with his co-star since June 2021, and had also said clearly this CP is not real, why are they so upset when he is once again is standing by what he had told them?
By forcing Zhang Zhe han into a pretend-relationship with a person he had indirectly said that is actually preventing his return to C ent, just because it makes them happy, that is disturbing and sickening behavior.
CP fans who feel rejected / ready to leave
These people consider themselves the ‘sane’ fans in the CP fandom. They are fans of both actors, not as invested in the shipper fantasy as those who call themselves JZP 橘子皮s.
They completely believe in what the Black PR and instigators have planted in their minds, and are ready to cut loose when the ‘uncomfortable’ truth finally hits home.
They have bought into what they have been told and are only going to accept an ideal, perfect version of a saintly Zhang Zhe han.
The silent ones.
There is another sub-group of fans who are CP fans, or fans of both actors. They believe and accepted that ZSJ is ZZH. They also support Zhang Zhe han in his new activities. But they are reluctant to speak out about their beliefs out of fear of being bullied themselves.
By remaining silent as they watch on while their ‘friends’ continue to dismiss the existence of Zhang Zhe han, what kind of love and support can they claim to have for him?
Even a passive passerby might be very uncomfortable to see the kind of hate being unleashed on an innocent man, but this group seem to have chose to close their eyes to it all.
They are condoning the cyberviolence with their silence.
They are not harmful since they don’t actively participate in the cyberbullying, but are they harmless?
I suppose in the least, they are really still sincerely waiting for his eventual comeback.
This is the only group that probably still can remain as Zhang Zhe han’s fans. I hope it will not take them any longer to decide to fully get on Zhang Zhe han’s side.
No matter how strong, how great a support group a person has… how positively they try to live day by day… As the Chinese saying goes, 滴水穿石 … drops of water can bore through rock. All these drops of hate, can he really remain unscathed?
Can we really know the extent of the hurt, frustration, helplessness that Zhang Zhe han still feels? As his fans, we can empathize and share these feelings: the outrage, helplessness, but there is only so much we can actually do for him.
As the lead of a globally successful drama, why is Zhang Zhe han the only one to suffer the consequences of a marketed CP? And why is he the only one this group of ‘fans’ is directing their anger when he had been trying gently to get them to recognize the truth? The one who is trying to save them from being scammed by a marketing tactic gone past its expiry date, is the one who is facing the wrath of these people… where is the justice in that?
To all those ‘fans’ who curse and swear at Zhang Zhe han’s family and friends, to turn about in the same breath, declaring their undying love and hoping he can return; really hope the day when you finally ‘wake’, you can still face what kind of a monster you have been turned into – by Gong Jun who has fed your delusions and by the ‘good friends’ around you.
Gong Jun.
He has chose to remain silent for the past four months since Zhang Zhe han had clarified they were no longer in contact since June 2021. He has chose not to clarify to the upset CP fans and left Zhang Zhe han to face their wrath alone – while ZZH is still struggling to climb out of the low point in his life. To this day, CP fans are still excited about the time (kadians) of Gong Jun’s posts, interpreting as signs of the ‘love’ which ‘exists’.
A toxic celebrity does indeed make toxic fans.
Free water army to attack the actual victim.
Truly disgusting. Completely vile.
Zhang Zhehan 