On August 2, Chinese actress Rosy Zhao Lusi took to social media to publish a lengthy post detailing her grievances against her management company, KU Yinhekuyu Media (银河酷娱). The post swiftly went viral, exposing disputes between the actress and her agency with whom she had renewed a contract, which is now said to last till 2030.
Health Crisis, Missing Funds, and Studio Meltdown
At the heart of the conflict lies a disputed 2.05 million yuan (approx. 285k USD) and what the actress described as financial misconduct, manipulation and threats. Zhao Lusi claimed the agency withdrew funds from her studio account after she was forced to cancel work due to a health crisis. Her conditions were reportedly downplayed, with the company continuing to push her into work during recovery.
Additionally, the 26-year-old actress accused the agency of manipulating financial documents and stripping her control over her own studio. Zhao Lusi stated that the company said she may be “blacklisted”, to which she said defiantly: “You don’t need to silence me. I quit.”
Full translation of Rosy Zhao Lusi’s Post
“I’ve waited until now and still haven’t received any communication. I foolishly renewed my contract the year before last — now there are still four years left of work agreements, so of course they’re in no rush. I’m the only one suffering. Because of an unexpected illness, I was forced to cancel some brand endorsements and reduce my filming load. They kept saying they would take responsibility for my sudden illness — and yet I’m the one paying the price. Can they really transfer money out of my studio account without any negotiation? Then, they tricked my finance staff into signing off on the profit-sharing documents. 2.05 million yuan has already been paid. We tried to negotiate, but got nowhere. Do they expect me to keep paying more?
They still refuse to return control of my studio after repeated discussions. How many staff are even left? Just a few. I waited eight months for a resolution — and this is it? The crew disbands — that’s the outcome? Everyone leaves — that’s the outcome? In the end, I pay the penalty — that’s the outcome? Telling me I might be blacklisted and shouldn’t post anything lately — is that the solution? When I bring up terminating the contract, they say their family is also sick. Yes, we all have our struggles. It’s not easy to make it as an actor step by step. But you’ve taken advantage of my hardships — that’s how you became who you are today. I’m a mess and not dignified — but I don’t need you to blacklist me. I quit.
If I had called the police back then, if I had reported it at the time, would you still dare say this was ‘legal’? So to all of you out there: if you ever face a dangerous situation, don’t trust any comforting words with hidden motives. The most important thing is to call the police — call immediately!”
Speculations About Leaving Her Agency
Zhao Lusi sparked public concern when she was suddenly hospitalized last year. She also came out with allegations of abuse against a former boss. Aside from Love’s Ambition which has been waiting to air, she has not taken any new acting projects and only appeared in PR events. There have also been repeated rumors that Zhao Lusi is planning to leave her agency. The actress removing her agency’s name from her social media led to speculation that she had already cut ties.
Three hours before she publicly aired her grievances, Rosy Zhao Lusi had simply tagged her agency Yinhekuyu without any caption. While many expressed support for her to “terminate her contract,” some criticized that such disputes should be handled through legal channels, not online drama. Zhao Lusi’s agency Yinhekuyu has yet to issue a response.
Photo: Zhao Lu Si
yarnie
ooooff finally a serious update happened in this matter… I wonder how it will cont.
Lin
People who criticize her for not handling it in private, don’t understand– Sleeze bags from that agency, use privacy to hide their wrong doings. That’s where they think they can get away with anything in the dark. But shine a light in that darkness, they will know what shame means.
Keep going Lusi! Expose them!
Anon
She said she should have reported to the police back then. She could still do so now. For her alleged abuse. For the “tricking” her finance staff to sign-off profit sharing documents. Why doesn’t she? And I am very sure she has her own lawyers to vet legal documents and also to advise her on her rights. She is hardly a naive nobody who is easily tricked, having been in this industry for 10 years already.
Lin
Seriously which water army are you from? I notice in every Zhao Lusi post, you are in here talking shit.
Are you seriously that naive to think the legal system is all fair, and will always output the right outcome? Have you NEVER worked for a corporation, or even a normal job? The amount of work it takes to document every single instance against a company, especially one with so many employees, is a full time job itself. Her having the right records, while they were working to death, is nearly impossible.
Not to mention, the c-drama industry is well known for being jerks to high-earning actresses, who are mistreated and want to leave their agencies. Yang Mi, Song Zhu Er, and many others. The agencies behave like toxic boyfriends where if they can’t have the woman, then no one else can. They would ruin and freeze their careers until its over.
The fact that you are in here, talking legal documentation and shit– you are really something. May YOU always live a black and white life, and do the right thing when the right moment asks for it. Surely you sitting on your high horse, speaks so much about your character.
Coralie
IMO the best case scenario right now is for her to sue for contract cancellation based on false terms of agreement or signing under duress/false premises. She’ll still have to do those brand deals since those were signed, but she might not need to pay as high of a cancellation fee.
for her MGMT company, rather than hurt both parties, they might allow her to dissolve the contract, since cooperation between both sides is impossible at this point. or they’ll be petty and keep her on the blacklist until 2030 so she will naturally lose her popularity with no support.
the problem with agency/artist relationship is how exploitative they are. artists are not commodities; any employee should be able to leave if they’re unhappy. not owned for multiple years. it’s gross.
Anon
I think that is a rather naive take. If you sign a contract, (unless you can prove duress or fraud), the only way to get out prematurely is by mutual agreement, or pay the termination fee or breach of contract from the other party, no matter how unhappy one may be with it. There is no such thing as “I quit” without contractual consequences.
She signed a renewal of contract until 2030 barely 2 years ago. Don’t tell me that she didn’t have her lawyers go through it before she signed. If she was that unhappy, why did she sign a renewal of contract for another long period?
Artistes are not “owned” like a can of sardines. There are mutual benefits and obligations. When artistes aired their grievances or dissatisfactions on social media, people always jumped to the conclusion that they are being bullied.
If all agencies are that exploitative, then why do almost every aspiring artiste who are ambitious to make it big keep seeking them out and signing 10 year contracts with them? Almost all big celebrities were launched with the help of these agencies. Some lucky ones have huge breaks halfway through and then they start to get dissatisfied with the terms they initially signed on and then claimed they were exploited. I hardly hear anyone thanking their agencies for giving them their start. They all thought they were always great and would have made it without them.
Coralie
that’s like saying, nobody ever thanks their first job for giving them a job. esp in this economy, for every one job, there are a thousand applicants all fighting for that one position. I will never thank my first job for giving me a job – they were a shit company, regardless of how they kept me buoyant during a rough time in my life. crumbs instead of sustenance. you can say that’s ungrateful, but I paid my dues, and that’s all I owe them.
unlike regular jobs, artists can’t grow their audience base naturally without having the resources to back them. that’s why they sign to agencies in hopes of getting better market. but these agencies have monopolized the market – few agencies for a large pool of candidates. not really a “free market” and they take advantage of those with potential talent as teenagers to hold an iron grip over their career. for ten+ years. That’s downright a hostage situation. I’m positive they earn more out of their artists than they invested, which is fine. that’s the point of a business – employees are given jobs that’s supposed to churn out results, but then they get compensated well in exchange for that (if things were fair.) in this case, zls is not compensated well and expected to pay off contract fees on her own. some employees even cause million-dollar mistakes and they’re not expected to pay back for those mistakes. why should zls when she didn’t intend for that to happen? in addition to that, forcing her to come back to work when she’s still recovering is downright nasty. her team, I can see why they would be dissolved since she’s not working right now, but at least discuss it with her, seeing as she’s their lead. they just did it without informing her.
contracts are NOT always black and white. there are ways to skirt around them or loopholes. if there isn’t, what’s the point of contract lawyers? even prenups which are supposed to be ironclad, are often not and thrown out of court in many situations.
Anon
As you said , very few artistes can make it without these agencies. “hold them hostage for 10 years” ? Hello, it’s also a gamble on their part. Not everyone they sign on can make it into a “cash cow” status. Half never do. Did you think anyone can be a star overnight? Even child actors whom they thought is a safe bet could turn out to be a bomb. Look at that girl with the emerald earrings. With the controversy, she would have to be on ice for a while, hence unproductive. The agency has to spend time and money to get her career back on track. Did you think these agencies exist for charitable purposes? There are thousands of them and a few are highly sought after by these novices actors because of their success rate in developing celebrity careers. Since they all know how the market works, they all still willingly and eagerly signed on. Yep, it’s a tough world for everyone, and even tougher for some professions. Does anyone expect anything less?
Contracts are agreements between parties. Yes, not always in black and white; verbal agreements can also create a contractual relationship. A good contract will have no loopholes. And you can bet that these agencies have tons of experience making watertight contracts. The only thing that decides outcome is performance or non-performance of contract, barring fraud and coercion.
And Lusi signed on twice with this company even though she was already an established celebrity by the end of her first contract term. She must be downright dumb person. Go to court and fight for her rights then, if there are breaches of contract. Lodge the police report that she said she should have done. She has enough to pay for the best lawyers in Beijing. No need to play this self-pitying game to try and win over public sympathy. People like to believe everything their beloved celebrities said. But professionals will only look at real evidence. A tearful face to the camera is not evidence.
P/S : You never thank your first job, cos you are a self entitled person. A thousand applicants, including you, fighting for the job and they chose to take the chance on you. It might have turned out to be shit company in your eyes. But it gave you the work experience to update your CV with, which is a stepping stone to the next better job, cos all employers look for experience as the preferred candidate. It gave you the opportunity to break into that job market. And who knows, maybe your first company also regretted hiring you.
My point is, there are always 2 sides to any story and who knows, what is the truth.
Coralie
maybe if they gave more leeway to these celebs, then there’s less of these cases where they’re held responsible for every artist situations. the celebs manage themselves. and the agency is only responsible for getting them jobs. so if a celeb caused their own destruction, they are held liable for their own mistakes. but in this case, it’s definitely not a situation where she caused her own issues – they are caused by neglect of her health and overworking her to the point of exhaustion and mental illness. they even hired an exorciser rather than take her to the hospital when she had her first health episode. that’s negligent behavior and irresponsible.
in effect, once she established her own branch of work, she’s essentially a company within the company. she has a say in what happens to it. the agency role is just the job referrer and takes a cut of what she makes, but also provide support in media events. they’re overstepping their role.
even companies offer their employees additional education, sometimes even free. the idea is that if their employees benefit, so do they. even the ones where they’ll have to pay back the education fund, they’re not held hostage for years. what difference is there between that and what these agencies are doing? it’s all for the sake of the job. why should their resources be worth 10+ years of anyone’s youth? and yes, she signed twice, I assume there’s a good reason behind it, which she clearly stated she was stupid to repeat. with that much power behind the agency, though, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did out of duress.
and as to my first job, that’s like saying you should be thankful for getting abused, even though they are so kind to choose me to abuse lol. ok. it gave me the opportunity to seek something better, but it’s also because I worked hard. if I didn’t work hard and benefit THEM as well in some way, I would’ve been fired. it goes both ways. they should be grateful I remained with them for as long as I did, when their job path is practically a revolving door. nowadays what company shows loyalty to their staff? any one is disposable. so why should any employee show loyalty or gratitude? most companies don’t show any. it’s a transactional relationship at best. to see it as something more is like asking to be blinded by those “we’re a family” bs slogans they put out while working you to the bone
Barb
No one knows what they would do in a situation like this! I didn’t! Stop being so self-righteous! No one knows what someone is going thru until they can’t take it any longer, and you realize the “Work Family” you thought was representing you and protecting your best interest is a pile of crap! I have been in that situation. It is not fun! When you are willing to quit, give up your dream you have worked hard for, for 10 years; been openly criticized for so long from people who don’t even know you, but for some reason think their opinion matters, and give up your means of support, plus , remain vigilant for so long that you end up in the hospital so depressed you can’t function, you
must have some really strong reasoning behind your decision to walk away. I have been! I was in the hospital for severe depression, angry at myself for being loyal to people for so long who really didn’t reciprocate my loyalty and commitment. So, if you have not experienced this, you might just need to remain quiet and hope it never happens to you. Everyone, have a successful day!
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