![]() Last year, a former investigative journalist was sentenced to seven months in prison after he questioned China’s role in the Korean War as depicted in a blockbuster patriotic movie. ![]() In 2021, China enacted a law to ban any insult and slander on military personnel. On Wednesday evening, police in Beijing said that they had opened an investigation into Li, claiming his performance had “seriously insulted” the military and caused “bad social impact.” The company was also indefinitely suspended from holding any performances in the capital. On Wednesday the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said a subsidiary of the firm would be fined $1.91 million and deprived of $189,000 it made in “illegal gains” – an apparent reference to Li’s two live shows last weekend. Li Haoshi, known by his stage name House, caught the attention of authorities this week after using a phrase associated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) during his comedy show at the Century Theater in Beijing over the weekend.Īs the official backlash grew, Li canceled all his performances while the entertainment company that represents him, Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media, issued an apology. The costly punishment underscores the delicate line comedians must tread in China’s increasingly restrictive and heavily censored social environment and the stark consequences for those in the entertainment industry who are deemed to step out of line. A joke by a Chinese stand-up comedian that loosely referenced a slogan used to describe the country’s military has cost an entertainment firm more than $2 million after it was slapped with enormous fines by authorities.
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