BEIJING: Chinese actor Yu Menglong has died at the age of 37 after a fall, his management team confirmed in a statement on Weibo.
According to AsiaOne, the post from his management team said, “With unbearable sorrow, we announce that our beloved Menglong fell to his death on Sept 11. Police have ruled out any criminality. We hope he rests in peace and his loved ones remain strong.”
Rumours of his death began swirling on Chinese social media earlier yesterday, after a paparazzi’s now-deleted post on Weibo claimed the actor had died after falling from a height in Beijing.
The paparazzi said that Yu had been at a friend’s home with five or six other people on Sept 10. According to the post, the actor went into a room at 2am to sleep and locked the door.
His friends reportedly couldn’t find him when they were leaving the flat at 6am, and they later discovered his body on the ground floor.
A resident who was out walking their dog contacted the police.
The paparazzi’s post added that police had ruled out any foul play and that investigations were ongoing.
The initial post sparked a frenzy among fans, who quickly flocked to Yu’s and his management’s social media accounts for confirmation.
His name also topped Weibo’s trending searches as netizens claimed they lived nearby and saw police at the building in question that morning.
Later, the Chinese online news publication Chengdu.cn reported that the estate management had confirmed a death from a fall, but could not identify the deceased as an actor.
The publication also contacted the police, but was told that “specific details [about the case] cannot be announced to the public yet.”
The same paparazzi then made a second, now-deleted post, saying they had visited the scene and saw that the “window mesh of a flat on the fifth floor was torn.”
They also claimed to have interviewed an estate staff member, who allegedly confirmed that Yu fell from the fifth floor around 5am on Sept 11 and died instantly after hitting the ground.
At the time, fans remained concerned, as there had been no official statement from the management team. The statement was released later that evening.
Born in 1988, Yu started his career in the Chinese entertainment industry on the 2007 reality talent show My Show! My Style!.
He made his acting debut in the 2011 short film The Little Prince but rose to fame for his role as the ninth prince in the 2015 period drama Go Princess Go.
Yu went on to star in several dramas, including Eternal Love (2017), The Legend of White Snake (2019), and Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (2024).
His last known appearance was in the 2025 series Feud.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
