Hu Ge Returns Fan Donations: “It’s Against My Principle”

Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the Chinese crime film The Wild Goose Lake <南方车站的聚会> is confirmed for a December 6, 2019 release date in Mainland China. To support the film’s promotional activities, Hu Ge’s (胡歌) fanclub “Gu Yue Ge Qian” announced a kickstarted a crowdfunding project in July.

The project was split into two separates stages: the first stage asked for 168,000 yuan to fund premiere screenings around the country for fans; and the second stage asked for 520,000 yuan to sponsor tickets and merchandise for fan events.

After the project was announced, Hu Ge fans reached the first target goal within 26.7 minutes. It took another 7 hours and 7 minutes to meet the second target goal. Before the project closed, Hu Ge fans had donated a total of 840,000 yuan.

But on November 6th, four months after the project, Gu Yue Ge Qian announced that it will be returning all fan donations. According to the website, Hu Ge had personally requested it to be done, as accepting fan donations had always been against his principle.

Hu Ge himself had also made a statement about returning fan donations on his personal social media, stating, “I do not wish to use special ways to produce fake images of splendor. The fans’ regards for and relationship with me are boundless, and we also cannot use money to measure it. Being with one another is the most honest confession. I hope that we can healthily go on together for a longer time.”

He apologized for only realizing the donations until recently, and expressed that he is against receiving fan donations, as he cannot condone certain fan support behavior. While he is glad to receive support, accepting gifts from fans is against his principle. He said he would rather fans purchase the tickets themselves to support the film. “Whether my acting is good or not, or the production is good or not, it is my responsibility, not yours. Win gloriously, lose with dignity.”

Source: HK01.com