Earlier this week, hashtags and super topics related to Chinese actress Vicki Zhao were deleted from Chinese social media platform Weibo almost overnight. The 45-year-old’s name was also removed from the credits of multiple projects she worked on, including Vicki's star-making turn in My Fair Princess.

Some speculated that it might have been ‘cos the actress once wore a dress bearing a design of the controversial Rising Sun flag for a photoshoot. Others think that it might be due to the many financial issues plaguing Vicki and her billionaire tycoon husband, Huang Youlong.

Whatever the reason, it looks like the authorities are determined to scrub all mention of the actress from the Internet.

And it looks like a number of Chinese celebs, including some of her pals, have followed suit.

According to netizens, the list of Chinese celebs who have deleted all mention of Vicki from their social media include A-listers Huang Xiaoming, Yang Mi, Li Bingbing and Yang Zi.

Xiaoming and Vicki are long-time friends, having known each other for over 20 years. They were once classmates at the prestigious Beijing Film Academy, and Xiaoming has gone on record to share that Vicki was his “first love”.

However, netizens have now discovered that a search for Vicki’s name on Xiaoming’s Weibo now yields zero results.

Similarly, Chinese actress Yang Zi, who once said that Vicki is her “childhood idol”, has deleted all mention of Vicki from her Weibo.

Other actresses who have scrubbed their Weibo clean of all mention of Vicki are Yang Mi and Li Bingbing. Yang Mi was directed by Vicki in a film just last year, and had posted a picture of the two of them on set together in October. However, the post is now deleted.

Similarly, Bingbing had posted a number of pictures from Vicki’s birthday party a few years back. And just like everyone else, the picture has now been removed from Bingbing’s Weibo.

Yikes.

However, some netizens have speculated that instead of deleting their posts, these celebs have merely changed their privacy settings to limit what the public can see. So, maybe we’ll see their posts with Vicki resurface again when everything blows over?

Photos: Vicki Zhao/Weibo, Sin Chew Daily