Chinese actor Li Mingde has been embroiled in controversies recently, not only having disputes with the crew and criticizing the male lead of the same drama, but also on February 13, Beijing Chaoyang police announced that a 28-year-old man surnamed Li had been criminally detained for vandalizing a car. According to reports from Chinese media, the man surnamed Li is none other than the 28-year-old actor Li Mingde.
The Beijing Chaoyang police stated on the 13th that they received a report from the public that a man was kicking vehicles parked on a roadside near Bali Zhuang. The police conducted an investigation according to the law. The statement mentioned that “the suspect Mr. Li (male, 28 years old) confessed to his criminal activities and has now been criminally detained by the Chaoyang Sub-Bureau. At the same time, the Chaoyang Traffic Support Team has issued administrative penalties for the illegal parking behavior of the car owner Mr. Yang, who was vandalized.”
The Beijing Youth Daily pointed out that the Mr. Li mentioned is actor Li Mingde. Public information shows that Li Mingde, 28 years old, is known for his work in dramas such as “Yuguyao,” “We Are So Adorable,” and “Dear, Love.”
Li Mingde, who was originally cast as the second male lead in the new Chinese drama “Three’s Company,” suddenly stirred up trouble on January 4 on Weibo, accusing the male lead of the drama of being arrogant on set, creating a buzz online. Although he did not reveal the name of the arrogant actor, according to information previously released by the production team, the male lead in question is Ma Tianyu. In response to this, aside from the production team’s statement, Ma Tianyu’s studio also issued a counter statement, presenting a completely different “version” of events from Li Mingde’s post.
The statement claimed that after signing the contract, Li Mingde did not participate in makeup and script reading on time, left the set without reason multiple times, caused delays in shooting, and even violently damaged hotel property. These contract violations led the production team to decide to legally terminate their cooperation with Li Mingde.
According to the Chinese media outlet “Red Star News,” Li Mingde’s agency, “He Song Media,” stated that they had amicably negotiated and signed an agreement to terminate their cooperation with the actor on December 24, 2024, without receiving any share of Li Mingde’s earnings. The report mentioned that “Three’s Company” had only started shooting less than a week before, as information about the shoot in Changchun was released on December 29 last year, with no details about the plot revealed yet. From the poster information, it was revealed that Ma Tianyu was the first male lead and Li Mingde was the second.
Recently, due to being in a bad mood at work, Li Mingde drowned his sorrows in alcohol and caused a major incident. In fact, in the early hours of February 11, screenshots of chat records were circulated online, claiming that Li Mingde drunkenly damaged someone’s car and refused to compensate, prompting police intervention.
An opinion article in “The Paper” stated: “In previous revelations, Li Mingde portrayed himself as a diligent ‘working man,’ disapproving of the industry’s negative practices, and claiming to have been ‘suppressed’ on set. In the end, this young actor who proclaimed himself to be full of ‘justice’ has turned into a criminal suspect who vandalized a car and caused financial damage, which is quite ironic.”