In recent live broadcasts, 53-year-old mainland Chinese actress Yan Xuejing revealed the income of her son’s family, stating, “Earning just a few hundred thousand RMB (Renminbi) is not enough to sustain the family.” Her remarks were interpreted as “complaining about being poor,” sparking a huge backlash. The controversy surrounding her statements continued to escalate, leading to the banning of Yan Xuejing’s accounts on platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou from being followed on January 10.
According to previous reports, Yan Xuejing disclosed during a live stream that her 32-year-old son earned “just a few hundred thousand RMB” from acting in a film, while her daughter-in-law, a musical actor, earned even less. She mentioned, “If he (referring to her son) doesn’t earn one to two million RMB a year, this family can’t function, but he can’t reach that.”
The comments sparked public opinion controversy, with many netizens accusing Yan Xuejing of “complaining about being poor.” The topic “Actress Yan Xuejing Complains About Being Poor” trended on Weibo. Numerous netizens expressed their intention to boycott products she endorsed.
On January 10, Yan Xuejing’s Douyin and Kuaishou accounts were banned from being followed. According to her social media profile, Yan Xuejing has over 20 million fans on a certain platform.
Public records show that Yan Xuejing is a spokesperson for the brand “Tongchu” seasoning. Zhang, the head of the company behind the brand, announced to “Red Star News” that due to the public opinion storm, the company had decided to cut ties with Yan Xuejing. They will no longer use her image on product packaging, and all production of the company’s products has been halted.
The company’s representative mentioned that Yan Xuejing had been endorsing the brand for over a decade, and after the split, the existing packaging could not be used, incurring losses. The company will work overtime to create new packaging and resume production. Furthermore, they are evaluating losses and may hold Yan Xuejing accountable in the future for damages such as unused packaging, temporary production halts, and reputational harm. The representative admitted that they no longer plan to use celebrities for endorsements, citing that the risks are too high.
Afterward, two videos filmed indoors and in a car circulated online claiming to be Yan Xuejing’s response, where she criticized netizens as “sour cucumbers.” However, on January 6, Yan Xuejing’s son, Lin Aofei, told “Red Star News” that they had not responded to the situation at all. He stated that all online responses were unfounded and declined to comment further.
“Red Star News” reported that after verifying on social platforms, it was found that the two videos labeled as “sour cucumbers” were old footage from months or even a year ago, repurposed for this incident. Yan Xuejing did not post any new updates following the controversy.
Netizens flooded social media platforms with comments like “Just a few hundred thousand from a film is not enough? This is beyond belief,” “You say one to two million isn’t sufficient!!! Maybe we would never earn that much in our entire lives. In our rural village, cultivating a plot of land with wheat and corn only earns us two thousand, subtracting costs, it’s all wasted effort. Young people working outside receive four to five thousand in a month,” and “In the past they said, ‘Why not eat meat porridge?’ Now we have Yan Xuejing’s ‘complaints about being poor.’ There are still people struggling for three meals a day, while Yan Xuejing cries for three days without eating bird’s nest.”
Some netizens defended Yan Xuejing by stating, “Perhaps in their circle, earning one to two million is not high, because their current earning ability cannot keep up. That’s why they are ‘complaining,'” and “In Beijing, many who used to have annual salaries of tens of millions now struggle with just one to two million a year, especially with mortgage payments reaching eighty to one hundred thousand a month. Private school tuition for children starts at a minimum of two hundred thousand. It’s easier to move from luxury to simplicity, but harder to go from extravagance to austerity.” Another commented, “She (Yan Xuejing) is wrong for confiding in the wrong audience. Venting to us poor folks, we won’t understand. She should express her grievances to wealthy circles.”
Public records indicate that Yan Xuejing was born in 1972 and is known for works like “Liu Laogen,” “Urban and Rural Residents,” and “My Mother Tian Xiaocao.” Her son, Lin Aofei, is also an actor, and the mother-son duo previously acted together in the TV series “Dating with Mom.”
Yan Xuejing, who once performed in “Northeastern Two-Person Turn,” although having previously departed from Zhao Benshan, the current controversy also involves the Zhao family troupe. For instance, Song Xiaofeng released a new song and was planning to cheerfully go live to share and promote it with netizens. However, when he started the live stream, the barrage was filled with “sour cucumbers,” forcing him to shut down the broadcast. Similarly, Zhao Si, Chen Ye, Sun Lirong, and others faced the same treatment.
One netizen observed, “The Yan Xuejing incident highlights a problem; people are struggling nowadays, everyone is on edge, this could be a dangerous signal.”