Little is known about the whereabouts of Chinese actor Fan Bingbing, who’s been out of the public eye since July of this year, around the same time there were reports that she withheld information about her income to avoid paying taxes. She’s reportedly now no longer in government custody.
On Wednesday, Fan apologized profusely in a statement shared on Weibo, the Chinese social network. She owes roughly $130 million in back taxes and assorted fees, according to reports from Chinese media. “I completely accept the penalties given by the taxation authorities after their thorough investigation,” she wrote in her apology.
It’s unclear where the authorities are on that investigation. Fan was reportedly under “residential surveillance at a designated location—a form of secret detention” until two weeks ago, according to the South China Morning Post. The paper’s sources, who were kept anonymous, disagree on whether’s she in the clear yet or will face more questioning.
Meanwhile, some of Fan’s colleagues are rushing to get their own finances in order, as the country’s entertainment industry begins to look more closely at its highest-paid actors. Among those are Faye Wong, Zhao Wei, and Shu Qi, acacording to Variety. Previously, in the midst of the Fan scandal, online video platforms and studio had agreed to follow new government guidelines about how much of a movie’s budget can go to paying the actors.
