Huawei Heiress Annabel Yao is Slammed by Chinese Internet After Joining Cast of Hit TV Show

Controversial singer and Huawei heiress Annabel Yao, is once again facing criticism from netizens following the announcement that she will be joining one of China’s most popular celebrity reality TV show, Chinese Restaurant.

Yao, who is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, catapulted to the top of trending pages in China following the release of her debut single “Back Fire” in January. Comments from netizens at the time focused on her privilege, with one user writing, “Can’t sing, can’t dance, but if you have money…”

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Again, negative comments aimed at the “second princess of Huawei,” as she has been named by the Chinese Internet, have been flooding in.

“Can the second princess leave the entertainment industry alone,” writes one Weibo user under the announcement post, with over 90,000 users upvoting that comment.

Another netizen mocks Yao’s privileged status, “What kind of TV shows need the princess to come herself?”

“I don’t understand, will she help wash the dishes or give a hand when you invite a million-dollar heiress to the show?” writes another.

Gong Jun, the rising young actor of the hit Boys’ Love drama Word of Honor, will join Yao in upcoming series of the reality show. A-list stars such as actresses Vicki Zhao and Zhou Dongyu, as well as Karry Wang from the boy band TFBoys all had joined previous stints on the show.

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The news of Gong’s participation on the show stands in stark contrast to Yao’s, and has been greeted warmly by fans of the actor.

Gong quickly rose to fame this year after his appearance on the viral wuxia drama Word of Honor, and he has already become one of the biggest young actors in China, with an army of followers on Chinese social media.

Announced by Mango TV on Wednesday evening, the news has quickly become one of the top trending topics on Weibo. The hashtag #Gong Jun and Annabel Yao join Chinese Restaurant 5# has already garnered over 500 million views on the platform in just two days.

First launched in 2017, Chinese Restaurant invites five big-name pop idols each season to open and run a restaurant over the course of three weeks in a selected city around the world. The fifth edition of the show, is set to air beginning in the third quarter of this year.

Cover image: screenshot from Annabel Yao’s debut single “Back Fire”