Disgraced A-List Actor Slapped With A $29 Million Dollar Fine

Nearly three years after his career-ending controversy, “The Most Commercially Valuable Celebrity” is making headlines again for all the wrong reasons.

Li Yi Feng (also known as Evan Li) is a former top Chinese actor and singer. From 2014 to 2022, he was an A-list celebrity earning millions. He rose to fame in 2014 after starring in the fantasy drama Sword of Legends (2014) and became the first male actor to win the “Newcomer Award” at the 2014 Elle Style Awards.

Li’s fame continued to grow, thanks to his roles in the period drama Legend of Fragrance and The Lost Tomb, an action drama about tomb raiders. His role in the film Mr. Six earned him critical success too, as well as the “Best Supporting Actor” award at the 33rd Hundred Flowers Awards. Due to his popularity, Li began collecting high-profile endorsements with brands such as Prada.

By 2015, Li was one of China’s richest celebrities, earning 69 million yuan ($10.5 million USD at the time), and he was given the title “The Most Commercially Valuable Celebrity” by CBN Weekly.

Everything came crashing down on September 11, 2022, when Li was suddenly detained by police in Beijing for soliciting prostitutes on multiple occasions, a crime that he admitted to committing. This scandal caused Li to lose major brand deals, and his acting career came to a halt.

On April 12, 2025, Li returned to the spotlight after nearly three years, holding a comeback concert called Covenant of the Green Sea in Bangkok, Thailand. However, according to the latest reports, Li is still experiencing major consequences for his 2022 scandal.

Li and the companies he invested in have been ordered to pay 210 million Chinese yuan (approximately $29.3 million USD) in fines. These fines are reportedly linked to legal and financial consequences from the scandal that have not yet been resolved.