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China’s top-earning online influencer, Crazy Xiaoyangge, has become embroiled in a scandal involving an AI-generated audio clip. The recording, allegedly featuring the voice of Lu Wenqing, a co-founder of Three Sheep Group, has led to a police investigation.
In the clip, Lu is said to confess to asking two female influencers from the company, Qilaoban and Zhuo Shilin, to sleep with him. He also allegedly boasts that he could remove Xiaoyangge and his brother, Dayangge, from the company at will, and downplays the importance of Zhang Yiming, the founder of TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, claiming that "nobody would buy stuff from Douyin if Three Sheep weren’t here."
Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, is where Xiaoyangge, also known as Crazy Little Brother Yang (real name Zhang Qingyang), built his e-commerce empire. He became popular for his outrageous sales tactics, including biting slippers and wiping his face with mops to test products. In 2022, he earned a staggering 3.21 billion yuan (US$450 million).
However, Xiaoyangge has recently faced backlash, including accusations of selling mooncakes falsely marketed as being from Hong Kong. It was revealed that the mooncakes were actually made in Guangdong province. In response, regulators fined Three Sheep Group 68.95 million yuan (US$9.6 million) and ordered a temporary suspension of business for rectification. The company has since apologized.
The scandal deepened when Xiaoyangge clashed with another influencer, Xinba, who hinted at Xiaoyangge’s involvement with a female employee from Three Sheep Group. The woman, Momo, was later jailed for demanding a large sum following the end of their affair. Momo has been absent from social media since December 2022, raising suspicions.
Both Qilaoban and Zhuo Shilin, with millions of followers, denied any romantic involvement with Lu and vowed to pursue legal action to protect their reputations. Dayangge’s wife also denied the authenticity of the audio, claiming it was AI-generated. Experts have since analyzed the clip, questioning whether AI could produce such a realistic drunken voice filled with frequent profanity. The controversy continues to stir debate online.
Source: SCMP
