Before the National Holiday, the controversies surrounding “Crazy” Little Brother Yang and the Three Sheep Group behind him finally came to an end, or had it? Two official statements from the authorities, an apology and a show of face have put an apparent end to the month-long saga.
On 27 September, 10 days after being investigated by the market regulation authorities of its native city Hefei, Anhui, the investigation found the Three Sheep Group had indeed misled consumers in the livestream sale for the Meisun moon cakes. The decision was to suspend its trading to rectify the problem, as well as a hefty fine of 68.95 million RMB (9.81 million USD).
Meanwhile, on 22 September, an audio recording purported to be the voice of Lu Wenqing, the president and the third “sheep” of the Three Sheep Group went viral. The recorded voice tells of the sordid dealings behind closed doors in the company, including the supposed sexual exploitation of female streamers and plans to replace the “Cray Twins” should they leave due to the scandal. On the same day as the regulator announcement, the Hefei police also released a statement regarding the recording, which turned out to be AI-generated. A suspect has been taken into custody for investigation. Even the developer of the tool used in the suspected crime made a statement on the matter.
As if coordinated with its local regulator and police, Three Sheep promptly issued an apology for misleading consumers and offered a refund to all who bought Meisun and a problematic batch of beef rolls, as well as three times the value of the purchases as compensation.
On 29 September, Yang made his first public appearance since the mooncake fiasco on the livestream channel of one of Three Sheep’s affiliated influencers, albeit just for a National Day greeting without responding to any of the controversies. This marks the end of the month-long saga that started when Xinba started his concerted attack on Yang and Three Sheep.
With Xinba moving to the supermarket sector, Li Jiaqi launching his operation in Southeast Asia, Dong Yuhui facing more controversies, the days of super streamers seem to be genuinely over. With Double 11 imminent, Xinba’s disciple Dandan became the first female streamer to reach 100 million followers and Li Jiaqi’s Mei One having their new champion, Li’s former assistant streamer Wangwang, perhaps a new generation of super streamers is on the rise?
