Coronavirus: Chinese celebrity couple Deng Chao and Sun Li slammed for 'stingy' donation

Coronavirus: Chinese celebrity couple Deng Chao and Sun Li slammed for 'stingy' donation
Celebrity couple Deng Chao and Sun Li were criticised by netizens, who said that their donation to the effort against the coronavirus was a small sum.
PHOTO: Weibo/Deng Chao

Many Chinese celebrities have donated money to help in the fight against the coronavirus originating from Wuhan, China, but not all have received kudos for it.

Power couple Deng Chao and Sun Li recently donated 300,000 yuan (S$59,500) to the cause but netizens said it was a small sum given how much they have made from their movies and TV serials.

Sun, 38, who shot to fame after playing Qing Dynasty consort Zhen Huan in TV serial Empresses In The Palace (2011), went on to star in other successful shows including Legend of Miyue (2015) and Nothing Gold Can Stay (2017).

She reportedly earns more than 800,000 yuan for every episode.

Her husband Deng, 41, is also one of China's most prominent actors and has starred in movies including American Dreams In China (2013), The Mermaid (2016) and Shadow (2018).

According to a report by Chinese portal Netease, the top donation of 10 million yuan came from comedian Zhao Benshan and his troupe. Three other celebrity couples donated one million yuan each.

Deng and Sun, who had made the donation through actor Jet Li's One Foundation, were slammed by netizens who called them stingy and urged a boycott of their shows.

But some said they might have donated through other charity foundations and noted that they had given to various charity causes previously and have probably donated more than one million yuan a year.

Sun and Deng had also reportedly donated items needed by hospitals in south-eastern Jiangxi province - Deng's home province.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

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