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Collected information and sources about the 05-04 Instagram video

As I’m sure many are aware by now, a six minute video of Zhang Zhehan speaking was posted on the Instagram a little after midnight on May 4th (CST). [subbed video] 

Below is a collection of information discussing it, why people find its contents questionable, and why there is reason to believe it was faked.

Video Summary

He says that “the letter” (presumably the one on 04-30, discussed below) was by him.

He implies that Gong Jun “was the one who poured oil on [him]” and pushed the CP (ship) for profit. Gong Jun’s name is not said, but a specific incident from September of one of Zhang Zhehan’s baby photos being used in a show appearance Gong Jun did is mentioned, clearing any doubt that he is the one being implied.

He talks about how much money and effort was put into destroying his name.

He talks about a number of new hobbies and pursuits that relate to the merch and things from Zhang Sanjian’s essays (an online persona claiming to be Zhang Zhehan.) 

He directly says he wants to cut ties with “those [fans] who don’t want to wake up,” the implication being CP fans.

Unsurprisingly, this caused quite an upset for many fans, with solo fans directing more hate than usual at CPFs and making claims that anyone questioning the video doesn’t care about him. 

Many tabloid reporters have picked up on the topic of the video—far more than is natural.

Context of the Instagram Account

Prior to this video being posted, there has been a huge amount of reason to doubt that Zhang Zhehan is the one behind the account, and to believe that his former music manager Xie Yihua is using it for personal gain and/or because of ties she has with CAPA, the association heavily suspected of being behind 813.

The account has been used to push an exorbitantly priced merch brand supposedly for Zhang Zhehan, but public records show that all profits go to her and her sister.

There is currently unverified mention of Xie Yihua trying to convince Li Xuezheng to not sue CAPA. Xie Yihua herself has professional connections to CAPA.

Xie Yihua’s son made a comment on Bilibili on August 17th saying that Zhang Zhehan does not have sole access to his Instagram account and that it is not registered to his own phone number.

Xie Yihua and people working for her have been specifically and intentionally directing hate towards Gong Jun since at least late January 

Every single action from the Instagram account since its pfp changed on March 31st has been suspicious, and every post prior to this video has had solid evidence indicating that they are either fake or being presented in a false context. A full timeline and breakdown of the account can be found [here]; below are the key points leading up to this video:

03-31 and 04-01: pfp change + a fan who was previously in Xie Yihua’s circle publicly denounced her.

04-03: The first photos of Zhang Zhehan were posted. Every single photo posted since has been from the same photoshoot, which is believed to have been taken around last June.

04-11 and 04-13: Videos were posted of a figure playing guitar from the neck down; in the second video the camera “falls” and Zhang Zhehan’s face is briefly visible. These videos have been thoroughly debunked and shown to be edited. 

04-30: The letter (presumably) referred to in this most recent video was posted. Many of the issues with the content are similar to the video, discussed below. The photo shows signs of being photoshopped, and the handwriting and signature do not match Zhang Zhehan’s.

The Timing

The video was released on a very specific date: the anniversary of the Word of Honor concert, and what is Youth Day in China.  ↳ The concert—the promise—was one of the happiest times for fans, especially CPFs. The anniversary was therefore an emotionally heightened date to begin with, making it easier to be emotionally affected.  ↳ Youth Day means that people’s minds would more easily draw connections from the contents of the video to meaning that Gong Jun is misleading youths (ie. his fans), especially with the specific mention made of pushing an m/m CP. A reminder that 813 was timed to be right before a patriotic holiday in order to have maximum effect.

A few days before this, Sophie (one of the people working for Xie Yihua, who has encouraged online slander against Gong Jun, and who took part in last July’s girlfriend rumors against Zhang Zhehan) posted a list of “CP-breaking tactics” that would be employed soon, listed among which was videos. 

The Contents

[Here] and [here] are discussions about the content of what is said in the video. The primary concern is that none of it is beneficial to him. The main points:

What is said in the video is very obviously designed to destroy a portion of his own fanbase.

If there is a real issue with Gong Jun, there are much more professional ways to handle the situation. Denouncing a former coworker makes him undesirable to work with in the future, and it pointedly directs fans to attack both Gong Jun and each other. Prior to 813, Zhang Zhehan said multiple times that he dislikes fans fighting, and that fans do not determine his actions.

At no point in the video is his legal case or CAPA ever so much as alluded to. This is a huge red flag, in case it wasn’t obvious.

[Here] is the baby picture mentioned in the video, which was on a program filmed in May 2021 that aired in September. It was selected by the program Gong Jun appeared on, he did not see it during the filming itself, the interview included zero mention of Zhang Zhehan, and the mistake was edited after it was pointed out. Honestly I don’t think anyone made nearly as big a deal out of it as the video implies; I’ve seen it mentioned maybe twice prior to this and only as an amusing mistake to laugh about.

Some Taiwanese phrasing snuck into the video. Use of Taiwanese in the previous Instagram posts and Zhang Sanjian’s essays is one of the factors that have made people believe Xie Yihua is involved in their writing, due to herself and her family being from Taiwan. Zhang Zhehan himself always used mainland phrasing in what can be verified as things said and written by him.

Deepfake Information and Evidence

“deepfake n. — A video of a person in which their face or body has been digitally altered so that they appear to be someone else, typically used maliciously or to spread false information.”

The possibility of a deepfake being used is something that has been considered since the Instagram was unprivated. Some have actually been surprised it didn’t happen before this.

[Here] and [here] are examples of deepfakes. A quick search will find you many more. [Here] is an example showing how easy it is for even a layperson to make one nowadays.

The requirements to make a deepfake, quoted from here, are as follows:

Takes 300-500 images to make a good deepfake 

About 4-5 hours for a decent video 

Cost is $500-1000 to hire semi-professional 

Deepfake training can be up to 12-48 hrs 

There are dozens of deepfake apps

CCTV also ~coincidentally~ put out a news story explaining deepfakes on May 6th; the cost of them in China specifically is a little over 1k RBM.

[Here] is a list of things to look for to identify a deepfake.

[Here] and [here] are videos about audio deepfakes.

[Here] are notes from an audio discussion with a computer engineer where he was asked questions that concern this video.

[Here] is a video about technical oddities in the video. [Here] is a followup highlighting a few more.

[Here] is the video sped up to highlight the lack of body movement. [Here] is a sped up interview from last spring for comparison.

[Here] is a thread highlighting what appears to be a glitch with one eye.

[Here] is a thread comparing his teeth, [here] is a frame where his lower teeth seem to clip into his upper.

Many have commented that his ears look wrong, comparison photo below.

[Here] is a video using AI to test the likelihood of the face in the video being fake, presented in comparison to the same AI being used on past interviews as well as known deepfake videos. The creator includes graphs displaying the results and an explanation for how the AI was trained. [Here] are the sources needed to recreate the test.

[Here] is a deepfake a fan made of Zhang Zhehan.

As much as any of the technical aspects, however, what many people have been trusting as evidence that the video is fake is the simple fact that none of this fits who he always showed himself to be prior to 813. I’m not going to link evidence here, because honestly all you need to do is pull up any interview he did. 

Does trauma change people? Yes. But this is a signficant change from what we saw even from the interview with Li Xuezheng recorded at the end of December. If he didn’t change that much in the four months when his life was destroyed and his mother was considering suicide, then it seems hard to imagine that something so major as to effect this supposed change could have happened since that interview without us hearing anything about it.

Miscellaneous Additional Info

Some have reported that their comments on the video asking about his wellbeing and about his case were deleted. As a reminder, when 813 happened, the only comments he deleted from his apology letter’s post were those supporting him—presumably because he didn’t want his fans to be targetted—while the ones vilifying him were left.

With regard to Zhang Zhehan’s attitude toward CPFs and homosexuality prior to this, see [this video] [this video] and [this tweet], or simply watch the concert and the Word of Honor bts.

[Here] is another post discussing the video and its circumstances as a whole.

To the question of “If it’s an imposter why hasn’t the real Zhang Zhehan said anything?” see [this thread].

[Here] is a statement put out by a Chinese actress who also had her Instagram stolen and hasn’t been able to get it shut down. 

[Here] is a thread talking about the tactic of emotionally overwhelming those following the account. (Remember, the real fight is against CAPA, not this.)

[Here] is a video explaining how deepfakes can even be used in livestreams nowadays. [Here] is an example of one being used in real time in front of a live audience.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, corrections, or additions to what is written here, please let me know.

This post was last edited 2023-01-05.

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