After his divorce from actress Angelababy in 2022, mainland Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming went public with his relationship with internet celebrity Ye Ke in September this year. However, Ye Ke’s frequent controversial comments during live broadcasts have brought attention to the couple in the media. Under public pressure, Huang Xiaoming quietly deleted the post announcing their relationship. On December 2nd, observant netizens noticed that in Huang Xiaoming’s updated Baidu profile, Ye Ke’s status changed from “girlfriend” to “ex-girlfriend”.
Huang Xiaoming, who has been divorced from Angelababy for over 2 years, announced his new relationship with Ye Ke on Weibo on September 19th, writing, “Stop guessing, we are together.” Although he did not disclose the woman’s name, this announcement still led to online jokes about “revealing a well-known secret.”
Since the official announcement of his relationship with Ye Ke, rumors about the couple have been circulating constantly. Ye Ke’s controversial remarks during live broadcasts sparked immense backlash, with criticisms regarding the “heiress training class,” comments on whose songs are “vulgar,” and even claims of “never using the school restroom since childhood,” leading to the creation of new online jokes. The uncovering of various conflicts between Ye Ke and her ex-husband has also led to dissatisfaction from fans regarding Huang Xiaoming’s choice of girlfriend.
In response to the controversies, Ye Ke issued an apology on November 10th, denying the rumors and announcing her withdrawal from online live broadcasts.
On November 15th, Huang Xiaoming attended the premiere of the movie “The Wig-Wearer” and took the opportunity to address the controversies surrounding his girlfriend, Ye Ke. With teary eyes and a choked voice, he apologized and bowed for nearly half a minute. It was particularly noteworthy when he was advised by the crew to stand up, expressing his fear of the controversies surrounding his girlfriend affecting the success of the “new movie,” and emphasized the importance of everyone’s support, stating that he would “handle his personal matters well.”
Despite Huang Xiaoming’s apology and his girlfriend’s withdrawal and apology, it seems that these actions did not salvage the box office performance of their new movie. The movie, which had an investment of over a hundred million yuan, was taken down after just 9 days with a total box office of only 4.1 million yuan.
While various factors impact the current Chinese film market, some netizens link the box office failure of “The Wig-Wearer” to the public controversies surrounding Huang Xiaoming’s internet celebrity girlfriend, Ye Ke, suggesting that recent scandals have significantly affected his likability and the interest in his movies.
On November 28th, “Huang Xiaoming deletes the relationship announcement post” trended on Weibo. Upon investigation, it was found that Huang Xiaoming’s Weibo post about his relationship with Ye Ke had disappeared.
On December 2nd, keen-eyed netizens discovered that in the “people’s relationships” section of Huang Xiaoming’s Baidu profile, Ye Ke’s status had been changed from “girlfriend” to “ex-girlfriend.” Although neither party has directly addressed these changes, these indications suggest that the two have separated.
It seems that this year has been a challenging one for Huang Xiaoming. Not only has his personal life faced issues, with his relationship with Ye Ke officially ending after just 73 days, but his new movie also suffered at the box office. Additionally, he experienced the passing of his grandmother, evoking sympathy from many netizens who comforted him with words of encouragement for a fresh start and potential lessons learned.