The Keanu Vanishes: China Scrubs Reeves’ Movies from Streaming Sites After He Appears at Tibetan Benefit
We here at Pop Culture Junkie love Keanu Reeves, but it looks like China does not.
Movies starring the actor have been scrubbed from Chinese streaming platforms, supposedly in retaliation after Reeves appeared (virtually) as a performer for the 35th annual Tibet House Benefit Concert alongside Laurie Anderson, Patti Smith, Cyndi Lauper and Iggy Pop.
After that appearance, Chinese nationalists took to social media in protest of the actor. The country has long rejected claims of Tibetan independence has been known to blackball artists who have expressed support for Tibet or the Dalai Lama. Reeves’ support for the Tibet benefit went public just as The Matrix: Resurrections was opening in China. The film did open in theaters, but did not do well at the box office.
The Los Angeles Times reports that “China’s major streamers removed the vast majority of Reeves’ filmography from their sites and wiped search results related to his name in Chinese — the cumbersome transliteration ‘Jinu Liweisi’.”
A search for Reeves on the platform iQiyi yields the message “Sorry, no results related to ‘Keanu Reeves’ were found. Due to relevant laws, regulations and policies, some results are not shown.”
At least 19 films starring Reeves, including The Matrix trilogy, Speed, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and The Lake House were removed from the Tencent Video platform. All but one – Toy Story 4 – were removed from other top streamers Youku and Migu Video. Toy Story 4, which features Reeves as the voice of stuntman Duke Caboom, only lists the local dubbing cast, avoiding Reeves’ name in the credits.
Sites like Bilibili and Xigua Video also saw purges. Reeves isn’t the first celebrity to be banned by China for their support of Tibetan independence; past cases include Richard Gere, who lost movie deals because of his firm stance on Tibet and close ties with the 14th Dalai Lama, and Selena Gomez, for taking a picture with the Dalai Lama.