The team of the popular crime series The Knockout said it has zero tolerance for drug-related behavior and is deleting the episode part of Han Pujun, who was found by netizens to have a drug-taking history, arousing public discussion about whether a tainted celebrity should be forever banned from screens.
The hit crime series unfolds the Chinese police force’s 20-year tough struggle with criminal gangs. But some netizens have found that the actor portraying a drug dealer in the TV drama was the former singer Han Xiao, who became popular in the 1990s and was detained by the police for 12 days due to taking drugs in 2009. Han Xiao then changed his name to Han Pujun and had roles in multiple TV series afterward, netizens found.