GeraldMany know Donnie Yen as a major action star, but at the same time, his links to China’s political scene have drawn some ire.
With the actor slated to be an awards presenter at 2023’s Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, a petition has been launched to appeal for his removal from the event.
In seven days, the petition has now garnered over 100,000 signatures supporting this stance.
With Everything Everywhere All At Once becoming an awards darling, such news does mar the triumph in the Asian entertainment sphere.
The main complaint stems from Yen’s support of the Chinese Communist Party. Recently, in an interview with GQ, Yen described pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong as “riots” as opposed to the actual protests being seen as generally peaceful.
It’s a tricky situation when it becomes hard to separate an actor from their craft to their own political leanings. But, ultimately, at the rate at which Yen is still landing roles in the industry, it seems that such attempts to curtail his renown have been futile. This is considering that Yen has strongly held to his beliefs since the release of Mulan in 2020 where #BoycottMulan was trending.
As the world opens up once again, China remains a key player in the global entertainment space, and that’s a place that Hollywood will have difficulty ignoring. It’s probably something that most studios would definitely weigh when bringing Donnie Yen onboard to any major production.
Gerald currently straddles between his love of video games and board gaming. There’s nothing that interests him more than trying out the newest and fanciest gadget in town as well. He dreams of publishing a board game sometime in the future!
Natalie
Joey Leong
