Chinese actress Zhou Ye, who has been dubbed as the “Little Zhang Ziyi”, recently stirred up controversy by ignoring the live camera of the Chinese Communist Party’s CCTV during a film event. In the video footage, she not only maintained a cold expression throughout, but also appeared to intentionally avoid being filmed by the movie channel. This behavior led to her being criticized, with the hashtag “Zhou Ye Black Face” trending on Weibo.
Zhou Ye, who rose to fame with the period drama “For the Fragrance”, attended a film event in Shanghai on the 14th with the cast of the movie “There’s a Small Convenience Store at the Cloud’s Edge”. Dressed in a light blue gown with a large shawl, she was called out by a reporter from CCTV6, the movie channel of the Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department, but she ignored the call and turned her face to the wall, refusing to engage.
In the released CCTV6 video, other actors responded to the camera with bright smiles and interacted with the reporters willingly. According to an article on “Sohu”, when the camera focused on Zhou Ye, her demeanor was icy, bordering on “disdain”. Unlike the lavish introductions given to other stars, CCTV6 remained silent when it came to Zhou Ye. This led to speculation that CCTV6 was clearly displeased and allowed netizens to criticize Zhou Ye for her behavior.
Opinions on Zhou Ye’s actions varied among netizens. Some speculated that perhaps she was not aware the camera was on her at that moment, while others viewed her behavior as a sign of “disrespect” towards CCTV6. Some believed that the 26-year-old Zhou was simply “showing off”, thinking her popularity was enough to not require any “interaction” with the media in public settings.
In response to the controversy, Zhou Ye explained that she mistook the official filming for a “fan filming”. Fan filming usually refers to capturing high-quality photos of celebrities at public events to sell to fans or companies, also known as professional fan photography.
Following this, CCTV6 released a video showing clear indications that the staff were filming officially, with visible “Film Channel Official Filming” logos on their phones, and they were wearing staff badges and work uniforms throughout the process.
Netizens were shocked by Zhou Ye’s daring move to stand up against CCTV6, prompting comparisons to another artist who had offended CCTV in the past. Six years ago, actress Wu Jinyan shot to fame with the web drama “Story of Yanxi Palace”. She kept changing the interview schedule and conditions with CCTV6, causing them to eventually cancel the interview.
CCTV6’s official account later publicly criticized Wu Jinyan, stating, “Respecting others’ work and time is the most basic quality for a young actor.” They emphasized the importance of ethics in the entertainment industry and warned that it was the first and hopefully the last time they had to address such behavior.
Under public pressure, Wu Jinyan eventually apologized, but media reports at the time portrayed her as “showing off”, prompting many netizens to mock her choices. Some predicted that Zhou Ye might face a similar fate, leading to jokes about her potentially having to “kneel down in apology”.