Chinese guitarist fired from indie rock band over sexual remarks about minors

The Wild Cooperative 野外合作社, a four-piece indie rock band in Nanjing, announced today that it had fired guitarist Liú Yáo 刘遥, one of its founding members, following a host of his Weibo posts containing sexually offensive remarks about underage girls.

In a statement (in Chinese) published on the band’s official Weibo account, the three remaining bandmates said that it was a unanimous decision to terminate their relationship with Liu. “We totally disagree with Liu’s remarks and we sincerely apologize to our fans and the concerned public,” the statement read.

It all started with a social media post Liu made on June 28, in which he tagged a 15-year-old child actress on Weibo, writing, “Hi! Your performance made me exhilarated. I think you should explore other possibilities since you are young. Any chance you are interested in music? I’m a legend and I am willing to teach you in person. Please remember to wear your school uniform when you come.”

The post quickly gained traction on the Chinese internet. Meanwhile, several of his old Weibo posts were dug up and began making the rounds online. In a post made on June 10, commenting on the recent revelations about Bào Yùmíng 鲍毓明, a high-profile lawyer who was accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting his foster daughter since she was 14, Liu said he was also very “close” to his own foster daughter. “We please each other every day. The things we do together are very stimulating. I’d rather not to tell you all here,” he wrote.

Last week, he tagged Zhāng Hányùn 张含韵 , a famous Chinese pop singer in a Weibo post, stating that he had masturbated to pictures of Zhang since he was in sixth grade, and that Zhang was “forever 16-year-old” in his heart.

Liu’s Weibo account has been suspended after a flurry of complaints about his inappropriate remarks.

In the band’s statement, Liu’s bandmates said that they tried to contact Liu after all of this went down, but to no avail. “We don’t know his incentives and purposes behind those remarks. But regardless, we will try our best to help him become a better person and persuade him to apologize to the public.”