Fan Bingbing lookalike among Chinese celebrity doppelgängers landing themselves in hot water for cashing in on their resemblances
- Chen Xinling, a lookalike of Chinese actress Fan Bingbing and a popular online influencer, was sued by the superstar for infringing her portrait rights
- Some people in China even go as far as having plastic surgery to make themselves look more like stars
Being a celebrity lookalike can come with certain perks, not least that you can profit from it. But for Chen Xinling, who bears an uncanny resemblance to international Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, it became a legal liability.
In September 2020, the 32-year-old was sued by Fan for infringing her portrait rights. At the time, Chen was a popular online influencer whose live-streaming sales channel on Chinese e-commerce site Taobao had a million-strong fan base. (Taobao is owned by Alibaba, the owner of the South China Morning Post.)
While not calling herself Fan Bingbing, Chen adopted a similar-sounding name, Fan Yebing, on her channel, selling a wide range of beauty products and treatments.
Chen believes she was singled out because of her popularity. She says there are, for instance, “thousands of people calling themselves Fan Bingbing” on the short video platform Douyin.
Chen is not alone in taking commercial advantage of her resemblance to a celebrity. Some people even go as far as having plastic surgery to make themselves look more like stars.
