PUBLISHED ONFebruary 09, 2025 5:01 AMBYCandice CaiDays after her untimely death, it seems the late Barbie Hsu's 'final wish' with regard to her former mother-in-law has been granted.
Reports noted that Barbie's last post on Weibo, made last year on May 23, had called on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, to take action following posts by Zhang Lan which allegedly spread untruthful information about her children.
"I hope the courts... Douyin and other relevant organisations fulfil their duties and stop Zhang Lan from infringing upon the rights of women and children," wrote Barbie at the time.
Barbie had split from Wang Xiaofei, Zhang Lan's son, in 2021, with their acrimonious divorce marked by public spats and ongoing lawsuits till the time of her death.
48-year-old Barbie died on Feb 2 in Japan while on a family holiday. Her cause of death has been reported to be due to complications from pneumonia.
On Saturday (Feb 8), Douyin announced that it had pulled the plug on the accounts of Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Lan and her son, among others, for contraventions to its guidelines, including "violating public order and morality", "disrespecting the deceased and their family", as well as "hurting public sentiment".
In a statement by the 'Douyin Security Centre', it alleged that an account by Zhang Lan had promoted false content "to obtain commercial benefits", drum up undue hype, and that the account-holder had "not taken steps to correct this even after being punished".
Another account using Zhang Lan's name as well as Xiaofei's account have also been "banned indefinitely", the statement read.
It also highlighted that another banned account, 'I am Xia Xiao Jian', had disseminated false information, misleading the public.
According to media reports, Xiao Jian had reportedly claimed in a livestream on Feb 5 that the chartered flight on which Barbie's ashes were brought back from Japan was paid for by Xiaofei. The video was also liked by Zhang Lan, netizens noted.
The online controversy triggered by the allegations prompted Barbie's sister Dee Hsu to issue a statement through her manager on Feb 6 to refute the claims, stating that "the flight and all other arrangements were settled by the Hsu family".
Netizens subsequently claimed to have uncovered that Xiao Jian is actually Zhang Lan's godson, an allegation which Zhang Lan has refuted in an interview with online site Ifeng Finance.
The final nail in the coffin that led to the ban reportedly came on Feb 7, when flight charter company Jetbay publicly dismissed rumours circulating online, stating that the cost of the chartered flight by VistaJet was indeed signed off by Dee's company.
Uncannily, the day of Douyin's announcement of the ban, which fell on Feb 8, is not only the seventh day of Barbie's passing but also what would have been her third-year wedding anniversary to her husband, South Korean musician DJ Koo.
The seventh day of mourning is believed to be a time when the spirit of the deceased returns home, according to Chinese tradition.
Some media reports also noted that Barbie's 'final wishes' based on her last Weibo post were fulfilled, but it was a pity she did not live to see it.
The same day, DJ Koo appeared to commemorate their wedding anniversary, sharing a heartfelt post to Instagram with the Korean words "Love you forever" set to melancholic music.
Wrote one netizen in response: "Cry, cry as hard as you want, cry as long as you want. After that take care of yourself and live well, you can still protect her love this way."
Besides expressing their support and condolences, many netizens chimed in with news of the ban on Zhang Lan and Xiaofei's accounts.
"The Douyin accounts of the Wang mother-and-son duo have been permanently banned, people are also fighting for their ban on other platforms. It's been three years, Barbie has suffered."
"Justice that came too late," wrote another.
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