The incident surrounding the death of mainland Chinese male singer and actor Yu Menglong continues to ferment, with various rumors circulating widely on social media platforms. Despite the Beijing police dismissing these rumors as “rumors” and taking coercive measures against three so-called “rumor mongers,” the discrepancy between the information released by the police and the official administrative penalty decision on the official website has raised deeper suspicions among the public regarding Menglong’s death.
On September 11, 2025, Yu Menglong (male, 37 years old) fell to his death from a building in Beijing. Subsequently, Menglong’s studio confirmed his fall and death. The police announced that they had ruled out criminal suspicion and did not consider it a homicide. However, public opinion surrounding the case has not subsided. Various revelations have surfaced on the internet, such as “being drugged and abused before jumping off the building,” “being pushed from the window by someone else,” and “his mother being controlled,” among others.
Public opinion widely questions the suspicious circumstances of Yu Menglong’s death. Menglong had bruises on his forehead during a live broadcast before his death. When asked by fans, he responded with “if one day, I suddenly disappear, remember that it is by no means an accident,” following which the live broadcast was abruptly interrupted by his management company. A video purportedly showing Menglong hanging outside a balcony also circulated on the internet, sparking numerous conspiracy theories.
In response to the escalating public opinion, authorities immediately launched a large-scale control operation. Discussions related to the incident on major Chinese social media platforms were rigorously controlled, and a large number of relevant posts were deleted. Hong Kong artist Chen Xiaodong’s expression of support on Xiaohongshu on September 14 was also deleted.
Netizens relayed various unconfirmed messages about Yu Menglong through emoticons, homophones, aliases, Chinese phonetic alphabets, and flipped images. On September 15, Weibo announced the deletion of over ten thousand related contents and the banning of over 600 accounts, citing involvement in “fabricating conspiracy theories” and other violations or illegal acts.
On the evening of September 16, Chinese actor Li Tingzhe expressed feeling “disgusted” towards the entertainment industry in mainland China during a live broadcast. Taiwan talent agent Sun Derong, who previously nurtured Menglong, posted twice on September 12 and 16, stating that he “could not accept” the tragic news and questioned many doubts about the incident, including the hasty cremation and lack of a memorial service.
On the evening of September 21, the Chaoyang Public Security Sub-Bureau in Beijing issued a police report stating that the doubts behind the rumors that had been circulating among mainland netizens for several days regarding the case of the male star Yu Menglong jumping off a building were all fabrications. Individuals involved in fabricating and spreading rumors are being investigated. The report stated that three individuals have admitted to fabricating and disseminating rumors.
The Chaoyang Public Security report categorized the handling of the Yu Menglong case under the “Clean Internet 2025” special operation, stating that the claims widely circulated on the internet were all rumors. The report specifically listed some of the actions and rumors spread by these three individuals:
Zheng (female, 40 years old): fabricated comments in popular topic comment sections such as “he was drugged and abused, forced to jump off the building.”
Yuan (female, 29 years old): fabricated accusations on multiple platforms such as “being hung on a high building, disemboweled, and thrown off the building.”
Xu (female, 41 years old): fabricated false information such as “surveillance being destroyed, behind-the-scenes forces controlling his mother and sister,” and spread it through social media accounts.
The police stated that the actions of these three individuals have been deemed illegal, and coercive measures have been taken against them.
In this case, the report did not disclose explicitly what specific coercive measures were taken (whether detention, residential surveillance, etc.), but it mentioned that the public security authorities had put legal restraints on these three individuals.
However, this report did not completely quell the controversy. Recently, some netizens discovered that there was no relevant information about these three “rumor mongers” in the official administrative penalty decision documents on the police’s official website. This information gap has sparked deeper doubts among the public regarding Menglong’s death, shifting the focus from the incident itself to questioning the transparency of official information.
Around 11 a.m. on September 11, a social media blogger named “Detective Xiaoyan” quoted an informant on Weibo revealing that Yu Menglong had fallen to his death in Beijing in the early hours of that day. The blogger mentioned that the night before the incident, Menglong was “having dinner with five or six friends at a friend’s house” and returned to his room to sleep around midnight, locking the door from inside. The blogger deleted the post later that day.
Before this blogger’s disclosure, netizens with IP addresses traced back to Beijing had posted messages stating “YML jumped from S” beforehand.
The relevant news quickly trended on Weibo, and Hongxing News confirmed the incident from an informant. According to reports, the location of the fall was in the Yangguang Shangdong community in Chaoyang District.
Jimumu News, quoting netizens, stated that the specific location was on the 18th floor. A reporter from the news outlet visited the rumored location on the afternoon of September 11, witnessing police cars leaving near the 18th floor building, with a broken window screen on the 5th floor of the building.
According to interviews by Yangzi Evening News and Jimumu News, residents and cleaners discovered the person’s fall around 6 a.m. that day. It was reported that a friend of the fallen person claimed to cover the person’s face with clothing, and the security team leader made an emergency call, leading to the area being immediately sealed off by the police, followed by the fallen person being taken away by an ambulance around 7 a.m.
A reporter from Yangzi Evening News found on the afternoon of the 11th that the ground where the person fell had been cleaned up.
Jimumu News also quoted two self-proclaimed fans of Yu Menglong at the scene, mentioning that someone laid flowers nearby, but they were removed.
On the evening of September 16, Yu Menglong’s studio posted an article bearing the name of Menglong’s mother stating that Menglong “fell from the building accidentally due to drinking.” It was claimed that Meng’s mother urged everyone to view the situation rationally and stop speculating, expressing a desire to return to a peaceful life.
Meanwhile, a purported “Indictment Letter” from what seemed to be Yu Menglong’s mother circulated on the internet. The letter mentioned that Meng’s mother held crucial evidence and testimonies regarding Menglong’s incident’s cause, proving that his passing was “by no means an accident.” She vowed not to give up seeking justice for her son’s death, making more people aware of the truth. The letter expressed how “my child was so sunny and kind; he should not leave with grievances, nor should the perpetrator casually dismiss his life with the word ‘accident’… I am willing to be accountable for every word I say, only hoping to comfort my child’s spirit in heaven, letting him know that his parents have never given up seeking justice for him.”
These developments surrounding the tragic incident of Yu Menglong continue to captivate the public’s attention, raising significant questions about the circumstances of his death and the responses from authorities and individuals involved.