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| ‘Too Many Coincidences’: A Look Into Tianyu Media’s Troubling History of Artist Deaths |
The sudden passing of actor Yu Menglong on 11 September 2025 has shaken China’s entertainment world to its core. Known for The Destiny of White Snake (天乩之白蛇传说) and All Out of Love (凉生，我们可不可以不忧伤), Yu was reportedly found after falling from his Beijing apartment.
Authorities were quick to label it an “accident after drinking alcohol,” but many online thought the case wrapped up way too fast.
The official conclusion came in under 12 hours—something netizens found uncomfortably abrupt for such a high-profile tragedy.
What’s really fuelling public unease, though, is not just Yu’s death—but the eerie pattern linked to his management agency, Tianyu Media (EE-Media).
Over the past two decades, several of the company’s artists have reportedly lost their lives in similar circumstances, mostly involving falls.
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Bian Ce (2015) — The actor was said to have fallen from a building in Tianjin. He’d been considered one of the industry’s rising stars at the time.
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Ben Xi (2016) — The singer of Don’t Be Silly (别闹) was found at her residence on Christmas Eve, only days after going live to promote new music.
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Qiao Renliang (2016) — A multi-talented singer-actor known for Cruel Romance (锦绣缘·华丽冒险), he was discovered in his Shanghai home. Authorities attributed the cause to mental health struggles, though fans long suspected overwork.
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Ren Jiao (2017) — The actress reportedly fell from a hotel in Suzhou, but her case lacked follow-up details, leaving questions hanging.
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Yu Menglong (2025) — Now, his name joins the list—making it the fifth similar case among EE-Media talents.
Each one was young, popular, and seemingly in the prime of their career.
It doesn’t stop there.
A few other Tianyu-affiliated performers have also died in tragic or unclear situations.
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Singer Tan Beixi reportedly passed in 2006 following what was described as an “unusual car accident.”
In 2011, Shang Yubo was said to have fallen from his apartment. Then, Cai Chong, a young singer, reportedly died suddenly in 2020 with little official explanation.
And in perhaps the most haunting case, actress Lu Jiayong, famous for Dear Marriage (亲爱的婚姻), went missing in 2019 after sharing online posts about struggling with industry stress.
No confirmed updates on her status have surfaced since.
The recurring pattern has sparked massive discussion on Weibo, with hashtags about “EE-Media tragedies” trending soon after Yu Menglong’s death.
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Some netizens think the issue points to a much larger problem—the mental and emotional toll on young artists in China’s ultra-demanding entertainment scene.
Others, however, are unsettled by how each case was reportedly concluded so swiftly, often with minimal disclosure.
While some argue that the fast resolutions were likely to protect families’ privacy, others can’t help but find the pattern too coincidental to ignore.
So far, Tianyu Media has remained silent on the matter, neither confirming nor addressing public concerns.
Meanwhile, fans continue to leave virtual candles and heartfelt tributes on Weibo, remembering Yu Menglong and the others who left far too soon.