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U.S.-born freeskier Eileen Gu has been capturing the attention of many in China recently.
18-year-old Gu, who is half Chinese, recently won her first Olympic gold for China. In China, she is known as Gu Ailing.
According to CNN, the hashtag "Gu Ailing won the Gold medal" received more than 300 million views within an hour on popular social media platform Weibo, which caused the site to crash momentarily.
Prior to her Olympic win, Gu was already the face of at least 23 brands, including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen, and Chinese milk company Mengniu, according to Shanghai-based media outlet Yicai Global.
In 2021, she reportedly raked in over 200 million yuan (S$42.4 million) for brand endorsements.
Backlash
While she might have been China's social media darling thus far, a recent comment Gu made on her Instagram sparked fury online over Gu's perceived privilege and ignorance as someone who does not live on the mainland.
One user had commented on Gu's Instagram post to ask her why she was able to use the social media platform, as compared to people in China who do not have access to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
The user said that Gu was receiving "special treatment", and asked her to "speak up for those millions of Chinese who don't have internet freedom".
In response, Gu said: "Anyone can download a vpn its literally free on the App Store."
Photo from whatsonweibo.com
A VPN (Virtual Private Network), which hides one's IP address and allows users to access content from other countries that might be blocked locally, is illegal in China.
Screenshots of her comment were subsequently posted to Weibo.
According to Protocol, some Weibo users commented how she was defending "the motherland", while one said: "Literally, I’m not 'anyone.' Literally, it’s illegal for me to use a VPN. Literally, it’s not f*cking free at all."
Another Weibo user described Gu's comment as "cruel naivete".
Screenshot of comment censored on Weibo
Protocol reported that Gu's comment was later censored on Weibo on Feb. 8, after it had been shared over 3,000 times.
While the original post is still up on Weibo, the screenshot is now blank.
It also appears that Gu's comment on her Instagram has been deleted.
Gu's success has been undercut by criticism about her disconnect from the lived realities of many in China.
In response to questions about whether she has dual citizenship, which is banned in China, Gu replies vaguely with "I'm American when I'm in the U.S., and I'm Chinese when I'm in China."
As U.S. journalist Jay Busbee summarised in a Yahoo article:
"This is the line that Gu must walk. Born and raised in the United States but competing for her mother's home country of China in these Olympics, Gu is a huge celebrity here, appearing on billboards and commercials all over the country. But accusations of favouritism would be tough to shake, and many of the rights and freedoms Gu has enjoyed for 18 years as an American — free expression, an open and unfettered internet — aren’t available to Chinese citizens. Gu is already a huge star in China, but she’s liable to face enormous backlash if she flaunts the fact that she’s not living under the same rules as her fellow citizens."
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Top photo from eileen_gu / IG and whatsonweibo.com