It is no exaggeration to say that 2025 has become the most turbulent year of Esther Yu’s career.
In the space of a few months, the Chinese actress and singer, born in 1995, has been embroiled in a series of escalating controversies, ranging from her family background to past workplace accusations. As a result, his public image took a hit, leading to a dramatic decline in his social media following.
The crisis began in August, when Esther Yu’s father’s company was embroiled in allegations of business misconduct and tax evasion. The situation quickly triggered intense online scrutiny of the actress’ family, placing her under scrutiny merciless spotlight. Before the controversy could die down, old allegations resurfaced accusing Esther Yu of mistreating colleagues and displaying unprofessional behavior, particularly during her time at Youth with you 2.
Among the revived claims are those involving actress Zhang Haoyue, who appeared previously Grade One: Graduation Season (2015-2016) has become a focal point of the debate. As these stories quickly spread on social media, the “Cute and adorable” image. Esther Yu had cultivated over the years began to crumble.
The impact was reflected more clearly in the numbers. According to statistics compiled by netizens, Esther Yu is currently the only artist nominated in a so-called “Ranking of artists who will no longer follow in mass in 2025.” While most celebrities typically gain followers when they release new projects, Esther Yu has become one rare exception in the Chinese entertainment industry.
In just four months, he has reportedly lost a staggering 9.12 million followers across all major social media platforms. Even ongoing activities such as releasing music, attending events and promoting new projects have failed to slow the exodus, highlighting the severity of the damage to public trust. Once considered one of the most requested actresses among the post-95 generation, Esther Yu is now facing the the biggest challenge of his career: rebuild credibility in between continuous reaction.
Despite the setbacks, there have been signs of resilience. His new drama Yun Chu Ling recently began filming, offering a positive development both for the actress and her fans. His previous project Song Gui concluded even earlier, obtaining strong online discussion rankings in late 2025 and early 2026, even as its ratings lagged great successes.
In early December, Esther Yu successfully held her birthday fan meeting and mini concert Flower at the Huaxi Bio-Runbaiyan Center in Beijing, welcoming 10,000 fans in attendance. Demand for tickets was intense, with 162,000 people competing for seats with a competition ratio of 1:16 while other fans were unable to secure tickets even after the sale.
In the same month, Esther Yu released her solo album Spicy honeyscoring a important step in his musical career. The album reportedly sold over 400,000 copies and generated approximately $100,000 in revenue within just 18 seconds of release, making it the first female idol to achieve such a record.
These results suggest that despite massive follower losses, Esther Yu still maintains a loyal and financially supportive fan base. Many netizens believe that if the controversies gradually fade away and she continues to calmly focus on acting and music, her top status “post-95 flower” it could possibly be restored.
For now, Esther Yu finds herself at a crossroads caught between a damaged public image AND undeniable commercial power making his next moves fundamental to the future of his career.
Sources: K14
