The backlash started almost immediately, with fashion house Prada announcing on Weibo that it has ceased all working relations with her with immediate effect. Prada is one of the many brands that have dropped the actress since the scandal blew up.

Celebs have also disassociated themselves from her. When netizens claimed that Show Luo's ex Grace Chow “shares the same beliefs as Zheng Shuang" — the latter had shown support for Grace during her break up with Show Luo — Grace immediately dismissed the the accusation, saying that she would rather spend her time working on her make-up line than to leave a message of support for Zheng Shuang.

The Huading Awards announced yesterday (Jan 21) that they would be taking back the two awards — one for Audience’s Favourite Actress in 2014 and the other for Best Actress in 2016 — she has won. Their reason? According to the Huading committee, the controversy has raised doubts about her morals, and that her response to the matter proves that “she hasn’t reflected on herself and has no intention to apologise...". They also added that Zheng Shuang has "also shown that she has no respect for the sanctity of life.”

You know that someone’s neck-deep in trouble when you get publicly condemned by the government. State-controlled China Central Television (CCTV) posted a strongly-worded statement that said that it is against surrogacy and talked about the problem of abandonment that stems from irresponsible individuals who have children by this method.

The National Radio And Television Administration (NRTA) followed shortly with a statement of their own, saying that they will never “give a chance for those who have committed ugly scandals and misdeeds to show their face [on TV again]”.

A fertility clinic in the US has claimed that Zheng Shuang still owes them US$68K (S$90K) in overdue fees. She is reported to have committed to a US$168K (S$222K) package, which should have been paid in full after the children were born. They added that the kids are in the pink of health and there is no reason for her to not pay up.

Instead of settling her debts, they claimed she contacted them to request that they raise her children. They rejected her offer of 30K yuan (S$6.1K) a month to bring up the kids, and said that she was adamant about not acknowledging them and that she does not want them to step onto Chinese soil.

It gets worse.

The director of the clinic claimed that Zheng Shuang decided in the seventh month of pregnancy that she didn’t want the children anymore, and requested that the surrogate mothers terminate the pregnancies immediately. The staff refused, saying that it was too late in the pregnancy to abort the babies. 

On the other hand, the director praised Zhang Heng for being responsible and for taking care of the children even though he may not want to be a father.

Yes, you read that right.

One of Zhang Heng’s friend has stepped forward to give his side of the story. The friend stated that having kids was all Zheng Shuang’s idea, and she wanted surrogates because she didn’t want the pregnancy to affect her career.

She also wasn't faithful to him. When Zhang Heng confronted her about her affairs, she allegedly said that she cheated on him “for his own good”. In a separate argument, she allegedly called herself a “vessel that attracts gold”, telling Zhang Heng to get his head on right before she replaces him with “someone who creates more value for [her]”.

An audio recording, believed to be from Zheng Shuang, has since been released on Weibo. In the clip, the actress, who came across a little incoherent, could be heard saying: “This might be the last time I have an audience in front of me (…) I don’t know if I should laugh or cry today. I used to not be very sensible, but today I feel like I’ve been true to myself.”

She also updated her side account with a vague: “We still need to live our lives. You guys have to live well. Forget me. I’m very thankful to all of you.” She also posted a pic of a piece of paper with her signature on it, along with the phrase “I’ll face it with a smile.”

Photos: PBE Media