Netizens Want Chinese Actor Yang Yang’s New Drama Cancelled After Accusations That A Horse Was Abused On Set
According to a netizen, a horse was deliberately tripped in a scene in Who Rules The World, causing it to fall and injure its neck.
There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding new Chinese wuxia drama Who Rules The World ever since it started airing in mid-April.
The series, which stars Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi, was first accused of plagiarising another popular period drama Royal Nirvana after netizens spotted similarities in the storyline, script and shooting styles between the two shows.
Now, they want the drama pulled after an equestrian blogger accused the production team of horse abuse.
The blogger recently shared screenshots of a herd of horses galloping on the show. According to the blogger, rope was used to trip one of the horses, causing it to tumble and fall in the scene. When it landed head-first, its neck was bent almost 90 degrees.
Judging by how realistic the scene looked, the blogger noted that it is unlikely that a fake horse was used and that the animal probably broke its neck shooting that “cruel” scene.
The post sparked heated discussions among netizens, who took to social media to slam the producers of the drama.
There were comments like “There are thousands of excuses for copying someone else's work but only one reason for treating animals like this and that is you’re rotten”, “The producers can't even afford special effects", “The angle [in which the horse's neck was bent]... I feel bad for it".
There were also calls for the drama to be taken down.
After the allegations made headlines, "Who Rules The World horse abuse” started trending on Weibo’s hot search. However, it mysteriously disappeared soon after.
Many netizens took this as an admission of guilt and called for the producers to address the allegations.
While there is still no word from the production team, the company that supplies the horses has come forward to clarify the matter.
In a statement released last Saturday (Apr 30), it said that the animals are specially-trained stunt horses and had undergone training for the scenes for more than six months. It added that relevant safety precautions were taken before the shoot.
While the scenes appear rather cruel, it noted that the horse is in fine and participating in another production.