Kris Wu

Wu Yi Fan (born Li Jiaheng, November 6, 1990), known professionally as Kris Wu, is a Chinese-born Canadian convicted rapist and former rapper, singer and actor. He was a member of South Korean–Chinese boy band Exo and its subgroup Exo-M under SM Entertainment until he left the group in 2014.^{[unreliable source?]} Wu was active as a solo artist and actor in mainland China, starring in a number of box office hits including Mr. Six and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back. He made his Hollywood debut in the 2017 action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage.

In 2021, after rape allegations emerged on Chinese social media, Wu was investigated by the Chinese authorities. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced by a Chinese court on November 25, 2022, to 13 years of imprisonment for raping three intoxicated women and was separately fined CN¥600 million (US$84 million) for tax evasion. In November 2023, he lost an appeal of the rape trial. He will be deported from China after serving his sentence.

Wu was born Li Jiaheng (Chinese: 李嘉恒; pinyin: Lǐ Jiāhéng) on November 6, 1990, in Guangzhou, Guangdong, to Stacey Yu Wu (Chinese: 吴雨; pinyin: Wú Yǔ; previously 吴秀芹; Wú Xiùqín) and Li Kaiming (Chinese: 李开明; pinyin: Lǐ Kāimíng). Soon after his birth, he was sent to Baiyin, Gansu and was brought up by his grandparents until 5, when he returned to Guangzhou to attend primary school. His parents divorced when he was 10, after which he adopted his mother's surname, Wu, in his Chinese name. The same year, he and his mother immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where he went by the name Kevin Li, using his father's surname. In the following years, his mother traveled between Canada and China to manage her business, until she decided to close all her businesses to devote herself full-time to her son.

In 2005, Wu returned to Guangzhou with his mother, who was there to finalize her business affairs. Wu attended Guangzhou No. 7 Middle School, where he was the basketball team captain. He wanted to be a professional player but his mother disagreed. After one year in Guangzhou, when his mother had closed all her business, she took him back to Vancouver against his wishes. He attended Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School before transferring to Point Grey Secondary School. During high school, he held a job as a server at an Asian karaoke parlour, in part to relieve his mother's financial pressure.

In 2007, Wu, who was almost 17 years old at the time, attended SM Entertainment's Canadian global auditions in Vancouver along with a friend. After passing several rounds of selection, Wu traveled to Seoul, South Korea, with his mother that winter. The same year, he changed his legal name to Wu Yi Fan. In a later interview, Wu cited his increasingly tense relationship with his mother and the financial pressure of college tuition as the main reasons he chose to go to South Korea. In the summer of 2008, Wu went to Korea alone, living with dozens of trainees in the dorm next to SM's headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul. He was trained for four years, during which he became friends with American-Korean trainee Kevin Shin, who quit SM in 2010 after three years of training.

On February 17, 2012, Wu was introduced as the eleventh member of Exo. In April 2012, Exo made their debut and quickly became one of the most popular K-pop groups in South Korea and internationally, achieving commercial success with their studio album XOXO and their hit song "Growl" in 2013. The album became the first album by a Korea-based artist in twelve years to sell over one million copies, and is the 12th best selling album of all time in Korea. Before leaving the group, Wu was featured on Exo's Overdose album, which was released in May 2014 and became the best selling album of 2014 in South Korea.^{[citation needed]}

Wu released "Time Boils the Rain" as part of the soundtrack for the Chinese box office hit Tiny Times 3 in July 2014. In the following year, he became the youngest celebrity to have a wax figure at Madame Tussauds Shanghai and was named "Newcomer of the Year" by Esquire China.

Wu made his film debut in Somewhere Only We Know, directed by Xu Jinglei. The film was released on February 14, 2015, and debuted first place on the Chinese box office, grossing US$37.81 million in six days following its release. He won the "Best Newcomer Award" at the 3rd China International Film Festival London for his performance.