Zheng Shuang rose to fame as a Chinese starlet in 2009 when she appeared in the romance comedy Meteor Shower. Though 2021 been a pretty tough year for her.
Back in January, she lost her brand ambassador role for Prada due to a surrogacy scandal. Now, it's looking like the star is facing the music once again as she's ordered to pay a $46.1 million fine for alleged tax evasion.
The Global Times reports the Shanghai Municipal Tax Service ordered the fine after discovering her 222 million yuan ($33 million) of unpaid taxes. The tax authority had apparently been questioning Shuang about her tax as far back as April. The controversy was first sparked after her ex husband, producer Zhang Heng published a screenshot of their phone conversation to a blog called Weibo.
The conversations between the former couple disclosed large sums of income received by the actress for her role in A Chinese Ghost Story. She reportedly received $320,000 per 77 days of shooting which acclimated to $24.6 million.
Records from the Shanghai Municipal Tax Service uncover that Shuang had signed fake contracts and illegitimate materials to their office.
Aside form the massive fine, this scandal brought a sea of ramification to Shuang's public image. Following the announcement, the National Radio and Television Administration banned A Chinese Ghost Story from being aired across the country. Along with this, Shuang is now barred from appearing on any Chinese programming. The Global Times states that a number of shows that the actress has stared in have already been taken down and the show Shuang was currently in production for has since been cancelled.
The tax evasion follows her scandal in January in which she allegedly abandoned her surrogate children in the United States. She hired two women to give birth to give birth to her children. While this wouldn't be much of problem in most places, surrogacy is illegal in China. Much like in the tax evasion scandal, it was Zhang who broke the story on Weibo. Similarly, new headlines were flooded by the story of the actress leaving her dog to fend for their self after not wanting to pay a $300 medical fee.
With all off her television appearances completely wiped from Chinese media and an eight figure tax fine looming over her head, Shuang's year is looking pretty grim.
Sources: The Global Times, Variety, CNN