Chinese actress-director Vicki Zhao announced last week that she has long been divorced from her China-born Singaporean businessman husband Huang Youlong.
“I officially divorced Mr Huang many years ago. Our marriage ended legally a long time ago. Any issues, speculation and news report related to him have nothing to do with me,” wrote the 48-year-old star on Weibo.
“I urge people to recognise this and to avoid dragging me into unfounded claims and reports. Thank you.”
Vicki and Youlong married in 2008 and have a 14-year-old daughter, April, who is reportedly studying abroad.
It is unclear when their marriage ended, though rumours of the split had been circulating since 2020 when Vicki erased all traces of Youlong, also 48, from Instagram.
Her divorce announcement is speculated to be related to Youlong’s reported mounting debt of HK$750mil (S$132mil).
Youlong has reportedly faced multiple lawsuits since 2017 for unpaid debts. He was also sued in Hong Kong after defaulting on rent for a luxury duplex apartment, owing over HK$2.8mil (S$500K).
As soon as the divorce was made public, it immediately topped Weibo’s trending topics, with many flocking to the comment section to express their support for Vicki.
One of them was renowned blogger Ta Lang Zhi Fan, translated as Riding The Waves, who spoke up for Vicki.
“Everyone should bear their own consequences… Mr Huang should take responsibility for his own mess instead of blaming Vicki,” he said while sharing a timeline of events to clarify the divorce process.
According to the blogger, Vicki had filed for divorce as early as 2019. However, Youlong repeatedly delayed signing the papers.
The pandemic in 2020 further postponed proceedings and it wasn’t until 2021 when Vicki got blacklisted by the Chinese government that the divorce was finalised.
There was also talk that Youlong has since started a new family overseas.
Netizens alleged that he had an affair with the family’s tutor during marriage. He later married her and they now live overseas with their kids.
Neither Vicki nor Youlong have responded to these claims.