Chinese Star Lu Han Cuts Ties With Audemars Piguet After CEO Calls Taiwan A "Country"
It's so important to, um, watch, what you say these days.
Chinese singer and former EXO member Lu Han has cut ties with Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet after the luxury brand’s CEO referred to Taiwan as a country in an interview.
The 31-year-old star, who had been a brand ambassador of Audemars Piguet since 2018, issued a statement on Sunday (Sep 5) via his work studio saying that the faux pas had “seriously violated the one China policy” and that he was terminating his partnership with the brand.
National interests are above all else. Mr Lu Han and Lu Han Studio will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, read the statement.
Audemars Piguet came under fire after CEO François-Henry Bennahmias described Taiwan as a “tech-oriented country in a video interview, which has been circulating since June.
Last Saturday (Sep 4), the brand posted an apology in Chinese on Weibo and emphasised that it adheres to the “one China' position and firmly upholds China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
However, this did little to quell the anger of some netizens, who dismissed the apology as being too perfunctory and completely insincere .
There were also comments like “There is not enough weight in this apology. There is no official seal and Has the CEO apologised?”.
Lu Han's work studio said it had urged the watchmaker to publicly apologise on global platforms in Chinese and English, but failed to reach an agreement. As a result, they decided to end their partnership.
This is not the first time a Chinese celebrity has cut ties with an international brand over nationalistic issues.
In March, more than 30 celebrities including Eason Chan and Yang Mi terminated lucrative endorsement deals with the brands such as Nike, Adidas and H&M following the stand the brands took against the alleged use of forced labor in the production of cotton in Xinjiang.
Photos: Lu Han/Weibo
