Taiwanese idol group F4 member Jerry Yan, who has been frequently staying in mainland China in recent years, made a surprising revelation during a live broadcast on August 7th. He candidly disclosed that he had already deleted comedian Jia Ling from his WeChat contacts, questioning, “Why can’t I delete Jia Ling? She doesn’t even know I’ve deleted her,” leaving the staff around him stunned and quickly intervening.
Jerry Yan and Jia Ling had appeared together on variety shows such as “Chef Comes to Your Home.” During the live broadcast on August 7th, when the staff asked the audience who they most wanted Jerry Yan to have dinner with, Jia Ling’s name flooded the comments section. To everyone’s surprise, Jerry Yan bluntly replied, “I’ve already deleted Jia Ling from my WeChat.”
This unexpected revelation caught the staff off guard, with them hastily signaling and attempting to remind Jerry Yan to be cautious with his words. However, Jerry Yan retorted, “Why can’t I delete Jia Ling? She doesn’t even know I’ve deleted her. Basically, most of the people from the ‘Chef Comes to Your Home’ program have been deleted.”
Jerry Yan’s straightforward statement was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, creating waves of public opinion.
Apart from deleting Jia Ling from his contacts, Jerry Yan’s statement regarding his relationship with F4 further escalated controversies during the live broadcast. While emphasizing that he is not close to the other F4 members and has no private contact with them, he also invited them to his wedding in 2016, stating that he wanted his “brothers to witness” it. Referring to Vic Chou and Ken Chu as “brothers” at his wedding and mentioning that they hadn’t met in nine years during the live broadcast created a stark contrast, leading many netizens to question the consistency of his words and actions.
When asked again about F4-related topics, Jerry Yan straightforwardly replied, “Don’t ask me questions about F4 anymore. I’ve said what should and shouldn’t be said.”
Some netizens noticed that this wasn’t the first time Jerry Yan’s statements about “deleting friends” had sparked heated discussions. Last month, he revealed during a live broadcast that he had deleted his former partner Vanness Wu’s WeChat, not just once. He explained that he has a “giver personality” and doesn’t actively add people as friends unless there is a need in daily life or work. If there has been no interaction for two to three years, it indicates that the other party doesn’t need him, so there’s no need to keep in touch. He emphasized that deleting friends is not out of anger or conflict but a way to declutter his social circle.
The act of “deleting Jia Ling from WeChat” stirred significant controversy. Critics pointed out his “lack of emotional intelligence,” believing that deleting private contacts is a personal freedom, but publicly naming the person being deleted made them uncomfortable. Especially since Jia Ling is a frontline director in mainland China, it could easily lead to unwarranted speculations about her character by outsiders.
Some netizens rationalized that it’s understandable to delete contacts with whom there’s no communication. Still, they criticized turning “cutting off connections” into a public topic during a live broadcast, commenting, “Just delete them, no need for a public spectacle,” “No one cares who you’ve deleted,” “Jia Ling: Thanks, I feel offended.” However, some netizens questioned whether Jerry Yan deliberately created topics to seek attention, even teasing him that he had “found the secret to generating traffic.” Currently filming the new movie “Blossoms,” Jia Ling has not yet responded to the situation.