A video of Chinese idol trainee Wei Zichen has gone viral on social media.
Zichen is a fourth-generation trainee under Chinese artiste management agency Time Fengjun Entertainment, the company that discovered TFBOYS.
In the clip, which was captioned “My Brother Long crushes Wei Zichen!”, the 13-year-old was pinned on a chair by a classmate pressing down on his arm.
Netizens were appalled by what they saw, with one berating the classmate for “being jealous” of Zichen’s rising fame.
“How can kids these days be so cruel?” questioned another concerned netizen.
It’s not the only evidence of Zichen getting bullied in school.
According to pics shared by fans, some of Zichen’s schoolmates also scribbled nasty remarks about him on a wall in school.
Some of the mean comments include: “Wei Zichen is a useless piece of trash” and “Die Wei Zichen”.
Netizens have noticed in past videos shared by his agency, there are obvious bruises and wounds on Zichen’s arms.
Fans of Zichen have since reached out to Time Fengjun Entertainment but have not received any response.
They also contacted his school, which has launched an investigation on the bullying.
Zichen’s mum, however, took to her socials yesterday (Nov 25) to say that it’s all just a misunderstanding.
She first thanked Zichen’s fans for their concern before explaining that she has since clarified the incident with the school.
“Zichen was just playing around with his friends after school. It’s not a case of bullying. Zichen gets along very well with these classmates and there’s no conflict between them,” claimed his mum.
She urged Zichen’s fans to “stop spreading fake news” about the classmates as they are all underage.
Zichen’s mum also said the wounds on his arms are self-inflicted scratch marks from an allergic reaction.
Netizens are not buying her explanation.
“What about the slurs written on the wall? Don’t be scared Zichen’s mum… if this isn’t the truth, you need to voice it out,” they said.