The Costly Scandal that Puts The Journey of Legend in a Limbo

The Journey of Legend (Go To The Mountains and Sea) is one of the highly anticipated wuxia dramas in 2025. Early this year, iQIYI and Tencent had already made it clear that the drama was lined up for release in May 2025. 

Fans have so many reasons to get excited about. This is a wuxia drama based on a martial arts novel. The main male lead is Cheng Yi, who we have not seen in a costume drama since Mysterious Lotus Casebook in 2023. Cheng Yi played three different characters. 

Cheng Yi plays three characters in The Journey of Legend

Gulinazha is the main female lead in The Journey of Legend

And then bang! On May 10, weeks before the reported premiere date, drama fans woke up to shocking news. One of the cast members became embroiled in a controversy. And we all knew by then what that meant. 

In an industry like C-Drama where "cancel culture" is terrible, scandals and controversies involving Chinese celebrities are like agents of death that could cause an untimely demise of the entertainment career of the wronged celebrities. That's China, where citizens are treating their celebrities like demigods who could never do wrong. 

The cast in question is Eleanor Lee, also known as Li Kaixin. She was born in Taiwan to a Singaporean father and a Taiwanese mother but established her entertainment career in mainland China.

She was accused of "insulting Chinese people" in a video clip, and although she strongly denied the accusation, C-netizens are already condemning her on social media platforms, calling for her to leave the country. 

Eleanor Lee plays Tang Fang in The Journey of Legend

On May 10, Eleanor Lee posted this statement on her Weibo:

"I am sorry that my story has caused such a big controversy and occupied public resources. I was shocked when I heard the relevant recording. This is definitely not what I said. I was born in China (she meant Taiwan) and moved to (mainland) China at the age of 16. I am 26 years old this year. I have spent nearly half of my life in China. 

Here, I have received many opportunities and help, and I can shine in the career I like. I love and am grateful for this land. I will never waver in any position on China. I did not say anything first because we are also sorting out the facts and hope to give a satisfactory answer to those who care about me. I will also confirm my attitude with my own actions. I apologize again for the controversy I caused and the public resources I occupied on the Internet."

The controversy led to the production of removing Eleanor Lee's name from the list of the cast of "The Journey of Legend". And because Chinese entertainment is a strange industry where celebrities are terribly judged in the court of public opinion, the controversy dealt a fatal blow to The Journey of Legend. And the release was eventually put in limbo. 

Eleanor Lee

Two weeks later, on May 21, the former assistant of Eleanor Lee took to Weibo and admitted she purposely edited the controversial video clip to get back at the actress: 

Hello everyone, I am Xiaopang, the former assistant of Ms. Li Kaixin. After being criticized and educated by the public security bureau, I deeply realized that malicious editing, synthesis, and fabrication of recordings of Ms. Li Kaixin "insulting Chinese people" and other acts of spreading false information are suspected of being illegal, causing serious reputation damage to Ms. Li Kaixin. I now make a clarification and solemnly apologize to Li Kaixin. I have deeply realized my mistakes and solemnly promise that I will never make them again. I also urge the public to immediately stop spreading related rumors and maintain a clear cyberspace.

Eleanor Lee

Eleanor Lee's studio forwarded the blog post and said: 

Regarding the recent online dissemination of the false recording of Ms. Li Kaixin, this studio has formally reported the case to the public security bureau on May 13 and was accepted. 

The police investigation confirmed that the so-called "Li Kaixin recording incident" was a malicious rumor spread by a former staff member due to a personal dispute. This behavior and the related remarks caused by it seriously infringed upon the legal rights and interests of Ms. Li Kaixin and caused adverse social impact.

We solemnly call on: 

1. Do not forward or spread false content and rumors such as false recordings of Ms. Li Kaixin; 2. Internet users, self-media, etc. who have published false information, please delete the relevant content immediately; 3. For those who continue to spread rumors or infringe upon the legal rights and interests of Ms. Li Kaixin in other ways, this studio will entrust lawyers to collect evidence and pursue their legal responsibilities under the law.

The Internet is not a place outside the law. We always believe in the seriousness and fairness of the law, and we also urge the majority of netizens to jointly maintain a clear network environment. Thank you for your attention and support from all walks of life! Dear netizens, what do you think?

Our studio reported the case to the public security organ at 23:00 on May 12 regarding the online rumor case. Li Kaixin herself cooperated with the police investigation from 23:00 on May 12 until 5:00 in the morning on May 13.

The persons involved in the case were summoned by the police to the public security organ for interrogation in the early morning of May 13 until 15:00 in the afternoon. After being informed by the police, the persons involved in the case admitted that the audio circulated on the Internet was edited and synthesized by humans. At 16:00 on May 13, Li Kaixin's team received a notice from the public security organ to retrieve the receipt for the case. At 11:00 on May 15, Li Kaixin's team met with staff at the Singapore Embassy to communicate on matters related to the case.

We will continue to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Ms. Li Kaixin through legal channels. Netizens are requested not to believe in rumors and spread them, and immediately stop spreading false information. The Internet is not a place outside the law. I hope everyone can work together to protect a clear and clean cyberspace.

Eleanor Lee also posted a statement on her Weibo:

Hello everyone, I am actress Li Kaixin. Regarding the false recordings that have been circulating online recently, I have reported to the police and cooperated with the investigation throughout the process.

Now I would like to make a formal statement on the relevant situation: After investigation by the public security organs, the so-called "Li Kaixin insulting the Chinese" recordings circulating on the Internet were illegally recorded by my former assistant during the labor dispute with the former company. The daily conversations with me were edited and synthesized illegally.

I was born in Taiwan, China, and returned to China to study and live at the age of 16. It has been ten years since then. My feelings and positions on China have never wavered. I have always adhered to the one-China principle, and I can't say anything insulting China and the Chinese.

Finally, I apologize for the recent occupation of public resources. At the same time, I implore everyone to stop spreading false content. Thank you.

The aftermath:

Despite this update, no news regarding the release date of The Journey of Legend has been shared, which infuriated most of Cheng Yi's fans who have been waiting for the broadcast of this drama for a year now. No new trailers have been released, and all the promotional activities, which had already been in store before the controversy, were not resumed. 

This controversy mirrors the dark side of the unforgiving Chinese entertainment culture, where celebrities seem to be walking on a thin thread; a slight mishap can send them spiraling down the drain without mercy. 

They have this horrible culture of immediately canceling the celebrities even before proven guilty, and what's appalling is the practice of shelving the projects right away. Can they just ban the "wronged celebrities" from participating in the promotions rather than withholding the release of the drama?

This issue of Eleanor Lee, which was not even proven guilty in the judicial court, is so nonsensical to be used as a reason to shelve the drama. 

But even before this controversy, Eleanor Lee had already been the target of malicious attacks on Weibo. In October last year, when it was revealed that she would play Tang Fang as the love interest of one of Cheng Yi's characters in Go To The Mountains and Sea/Fu Shan Hai, many C-netizens had questioned her credibility and "connection" in the industry on why she suddenly rose to fame, playing an important role as Cheng Yi's on-screen partner. 

The production, in fact, kept her casting a secret until the last filming day, maybe to avoid attracting a "violent" reaction from fans who would surely question her inclusion in the drama, as Eleanor Lee does not have any known projects in the costume genre before her casting in "Go To Mountains and Sea". 

But then, well...Let's just hope The Journey of Legend will be lined up for broadcast this June or July.