LayarHijau– The annual iQIYI Scream Night 2025 took place on December 6 and quickly became a major talking point in China’s entertainment scene. While competition across categories was intense, a major controversy erupted during the announcement of the “Favorite Female Character of the Year (Drama)” award.
Fans accused the platform of making sudden changes to the voting results, causing an award that was supposed to go to Liu Shishi for her performance as Dongfang Huaizhu in Love Pavilion to instead be given to Bai Lu for her role in Feud.
The anger escalated when sharp-eyed netizens noticed that the top three characters announced on stage differed from the official results published by voting platform Taodou World on November 21. According to that data, the correct ranking should have been: Li Qin from Fated Hearts in first place, Yang Mi from This Thriving Land in second, and Liu Shishi from Love Pavilion in third.
However, on award night, Yang Mi was moved down to third place, while Liu Shishi’s spot in the top three was replaced by Bai Lu from Feud instead.
Liu Shishi’s fans immediately launched a protest online, alleging “internal manipulation” and last-minute interference. They demanded that iQIYI provide a transparent explanation for what they viewed as a clear violation of the event’s own rules.
In response, iQIYI issued a statement on Weibo that same evening, acknowledging a “work oversight” that caused the on-stage results to be incorrect, and clarified that the correct ranking still followed the November 21 Taodou World announcement.
However, the apology only fueled greater outrage. Voting for this event required fans to pay in order to boost their favorite stars’ rankings. Many users accused the platform of deception and demanded refunds, leaving heated comments such as: “Refund!”, “This isn’t a mistake — it’s blatant fraud!”, and “No bottom line at all!”.
The controversy further escalated over the promised benefits tied to voting. The rules clearly stated that the top three in this category would receive promotional exposure during the live Scream Night broadcast. Fans had dutifully followed all the voting mechanisms—daily check-ins, engagement missions to raise popularity points, and even VIP purchases for extra voting power. But since Liu Shishi was not announced in the top three during the show, that promotional opportunity was lost entirely.
Angry comments continued to pour in: “If fans didn’t fight back, her character would have been erased,” “This drags the entire industry down,” and “If rankings can be changed arbitrarily, who would still trust these awards?”
Some viewers also criticized the paid voting system itself as nothing more than a tactic to exploit fans financially: “The more you pay, the more power you have? It has strayed far from what voting should be.”
As the backlash continues, the dispute highlights the growing public distrust toward voting mechanisms in China’s entertainment award shows — and pressure is mounting on iQIYI to properly address the damage suffered by fans who feel their paid support was not honored.
