Just as Lin Fan said, the true spectacle has just begun. Everything Lin Fan did was merely to push things forward, ending the online verbal battle and allowing the police to officially intervene. This step, however, was crucial, like opening Pandoraâs box. The subsequent developments no longer needed Lin Fanâs concern.
In Hua Yiwuâs view, Ms. Zhu had no evidence proving he violated her, and the police report confirmed this. It defined his relationship with Ms. Zhu as consensual, at most drunken chaos between adults, which did not constitute a violation of the law.
This result already made Hua Yiwu quite satisfied.
As for the fansâ reactions, Hua Yiwu could foresee them and was mentally prepared for it. Because the image he had previously created was that of a naive, sweet, pure boy, the police report confirmed his relationship with Ms. Zhu, which must be a huge blow to the fans. In their minds, their pure boy was now tainted.
Indeed, after the report was released, there was a massive upheaval in Hua Yiwuâs fan circle. Many fans couldnât accept it and started unfollowing him. Of course, there were still obsessed fans who didnât unfollow. After an internal struggle, they vented their resentment onto Ms. Zhu, beginning frenzied attacks on her. They believed it was Ms. Zhu who harmed their brother, that she exposed such sordid matters to become famous, ruining their brotherâs innocence!
Hua Yiwu sat in a mansion worth millions, holding a cell phone, paying attention to the fansâ movements.
He laughed.
"Itâs fine, itâs fine. Although some fans unfollowed, itâs not too many. There are still plenty of fans defending me; they are true fans!" Hua Yiwu expressed satisfaction with the state of the fan circle, which was much better than he anticipated.
Apparently, these star-chasing girls are truly obsessed, not even unfollowing under such circumstances. To Hua Yiwu, the more obsessed they are, the better.
With these fans, he retained the core support. Once this storm passed, he could continue to thrive.
For popular celebrities, fans are considered the most critical asset. Whether endorsements, magazines, or albums, fans are the ones buying. More fans mean more sales; the more willing fans are to spend money, the more they earn. This is commonly referred to as "harvesting the crops."
If all the fans leave, it becomes impossible to harvest. No one will buy endorsements, magazines, or albums. People outside of the fan circle wonât buy, so how would they make money?
During Hua Yiwuâs peak, an album sold five million copies, winning the national album sales championship that year. However, no one outside the fan circle had even heard the songs because they were all bought by fans.
Even the fans might not necessarily like listening to his music, but they were determined to spend money to refresh sales records just because they wanted their brother to be number one. If their brother won, he gained face, and so did they.
This is whatâs called obsessed fans.
If all the fans leave, Hua Yiwuâs album sales would no longer be five million, possibly just a few digits.
A celebrity who loses all fans canât be called a popular celebrity anymore; they can only be called faded, cooled-off.
So when Hua Yiwu found that not all fans had left, only some did, and that the core obsessed fans remained, he felt relieved.
"Those who left arenât true fans; this time counts as a fan purge. Those who remain are die-hard fans! After experiencing such an incident and not unfollowing, they wonât unfollow in the future either." Hua Yiwu consoled himself.
However, he wasnât happy for long.
He suddenly received a call from his assistant: "Brother Fan, weâve just received a termination letter from the Rili brand. Rili has unilaterally terminated the contract with you."
Hua Yiwu was stunned, asked: "Why?"
The assistant replied: "Itâs likely because the police report confirmed your relationship with Ms. Zhu. The brand believes your image is damaged, violating moral standards, having a negative impact on society. Youâre considered a negative celebrity, posing a reputation risk for the brand... I also noticed that a large number of netizens are urging the brand to terminate. If they donât, they will face abuse and harassment from netizens..."
Hua Yiwu was furious: "Bullshit, absolute bullshit! The police didnât say I violated anyone, at most a chaotic male-female relationship, thatâs considered a negative celebrity!"
Hua Yiwu had only been paying attention to his fan circle and didnât anticipate other situations, so he hurriedly checked.
Just as the assistant said, a large number of righteous netizens were condemning his endorsed brand.
Rili was a top cosmetics brand in the country, and both parties had been cooperating very happily. After Hua Yiwu became the spokesperson, due to his fansâ purchasing, Riliâs annual sales increased, and the brandâs recognition got a boost.
But this time, Rili was the first to stand out, decisively cutting ties with Hua Yiwu.
At this moment, Rili had already updated their Weibo, announcing the termination of their contract with Hua Yiwu: "Rili brand has issued a âTermination Noticeâ to Hua Yiwu, effective immediately terminating all brand cooperation."
This Weibo post quickly received replies from netizens, with the comment section full of cheers. Soon, this matter also trended on Weibo, where netizens overwhelmingly praised Riliâs good decision.
"Rili did well!"
"Hua Needle deserved it!"
"The first one, very good! Others should follow quickly!"
Besides praising Rili, netizens didnât idle either and continued urging other endorsements.
Seeing these voices online, Hua Yiwu got so angry that he jumped up, utterly furious: "A bunch of foolish netizens, mind your own business, youâre all just a bunch of lemon spirits, youâre jealous of me!"
Hua Yiwu was truly infuriated, believing that if not for these netizens stirring trouble, Rili might not have terminated the contract. It was their reaction that pressured Rili, forcing them to terminate the contract.
Now, these netizens werenât satisfied with just Riliâs termination. It seemed they hoped all endorsements would terminate with Hua Yiwu.
Hua Yiwu quickly called his assistant, asking the studio to intervene, hoping to actively communicate with other brands, hoping they wouldnât terminate the contracts.
But he was soon disappointed.
"The Deba brand announced the termination with Hua Yiwu!"
"Bao Geli terminated with Hua Yiwu!"
"Ice Green Tea terminated with Hua Yiwu!"
"..."
Following Rili, other brands endorsed by Hua Yiwu announced one after another, terminating contracts with Hua Yiwu, each termination trending separately.
In no time, the trending list was dominated by various terminations.
Seeing this scene, Hua Yiwuâs face turned ashen, collapsing onto the sofa, finished, itâs over, this time itâs really over!
After the police intervened to investigate and released a report, the consequences far exceeded Hua Yiwuâs expectations, bringing him unprecedented devastation.
Within just one day, all of Hua Yiwuâs 20 endorsements announced termination one after another, a scene unheard of in the entertainment industry, spectacular indeed.
So far, Hua Yiwu hadnât been deemed illegal by the police, but people were already making moral judgments on him.
This vigorous termination scenario had long disturbed Wei Jiansheng. Despite Wei Jianshengâs standing in the entertainment industry, he was entirely powerless to stop it, having to look on dumbfounded.