Chinese actress Bai Baihe has published a lengthy post on social media to respond to the controversy surrounding the Tokyo International Film Festival awards, where her co-star Wang Chuanjun won Best Actor while she missed out on the Best Actress award. Her cryptic post, “so that’s how things work, huh? 🙈🙉🙊” led many to wonder if she had an issue with the actor. As the topic trended online for days, the 41-year-old actress finally addressed the issue.
Bai Baihe Addresses Award Controversy
In her statement, she started by clarifying that any award won by anyone from the cast and crew should be celebrated together. However, she called out producer Deng Jin and director Zhang Lu, accusing the teams behind Mother Tongue (春树) and Gloaming in Luomu (罗目的黄昏) of professional misconduct and alleging that they purposely excluded her from events.
According to Bai Baihe, Ms. Deng told her to return to China early on November 3 because there’s no award. However, the production later received Best Director (Zhang Lu) and Best Actor (Wang Chuanjun) at the Tokyo Film Festival. She also recounted how she previously paid her own expenses to attend the Busan Film Festival for Gloaming in Luom (also directed by Zhang Lu), but almost could not enter in time as someone had “left” their phone elsewhere, which is why she was not in the photos. She accused director Zhang of manipulating her trust by citing personal hardship to persuade her into both projects, only to disregard her contributions afterward.
While Bai Baihe clarified that her criticism was directed at the production management, her earlier post led to online backlash against Wang Chuanjun who had won an award. Bai Baihe drew praise from some who applauded her for clearing the air directly, while others criticized her for “refusing to accept loss.” Zhang Lu and Deng Jin have yet to respond to the claims.
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