Director Chen Juhui arrested for filming pornographic videos

China — During the pandemic, a 38-year-old Chinese director decided to take the easiest way out as he struggled to make ends meet. Unfortunately, the road he took didn’t work out as planned and only led him into even more trouble.

Director Chen Juhui graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy. His portfolio includes Tonglin Bird, The Heavenly Dream of the Hibiscus and The Vanished Murderer. On Jun 23 this year, Chen was arrested for filming pornographic videos.

Prior to this, he ran a media company. However, no thanks to the pandemic, his company’s revenue took a sharp dive. Upon hearing Chen’s troubles, his friend encouraged him to film pornography.

They decided that one would be in charge of filming and editing and the other would be responsible for finding actors and scripts. They started their operation officially in October 2020.

Mei, 30, was their first actress. Mei said that Chen told her the films would be recorded by a legal company. He said that the films would be released overseas, and it was not illegal.

Mei believed him, at least until a friend reposted a video of her on WeChat.

“I panicked and (went) to Director Chen to (ask about it),” she said. Chen voided her worries by saying the films had been sent overseas but must have made their way back to China. With her concerns soothed, Mei continued filming more pornographic videos.

It was said that Chen made SGD6,300 per video. After his business took off in October, Chen made a profit of nearly 1 million yuan.

Unfortunately, he did not foresee his downfall on June 23. Chen’s activities came to light because a 12-year-old boy was watching pornographic videos. The boy’s mother noticed her son spending on a certain app and thought she was being scammed, reported Hype.my.

The mother reported the case to the police and upon investigation, it was revealed that Chen’s operation is in Shanghai. The director was arrested at his home in Shanghai with Mei and another actress. The police reported the incident on their Weibo.

Netizens later realised it was Chen, as his Weibo stopped being updated around the same time the news of the arrest went out. It’s a pity as his last Weibo post in May reports that his film “Riding the Wind, Riding the Moon and Traveling with Worries ” won three awards, including best director and best film.

The esteemed director isn’t the only one whose scandal was revealed by the police. International pianist Li Yundi’s prostitution issue was divulged just last week in almost the same manner. /TISG