Famous Crosstalk Artist Under Fire For Crowdfunding Abuse

WuShuai吴帅, a Chinese comedian affiliated with the country’s most prestigious crosstalk performance group Deyunshe德云社, has caught heat from social media after his family launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover the medical expenses of his cerebral hemorrhage.

prestigious crosstalk performance group 著名相声表演组

crowdfunding campaign 众筹运动

medical expenses 医药费

cerebral hemorrhage 脑出血；大脑出血

cover

本段表示"If a sum of money covers something, it is enough to pay for it"足够支付

Send it to the address given with $2.50 to cover postage and administration.

把这封信寄到所给地址，$2.50足以支付邮资和手续费。

cerebral

1) cerebral /sə'ribrəl/  Cerebral means relating to the brain. 大脑的 [医学]

2) If you describe someone or something as cerebral, you mean that they are intellectual rather than emotional. 理智的; 理性的 

The questionable campaign was established by Wu’s wife Zhang Hongyi 张泓艺 on May 1, roughly a month after the 34-year-old artist was rushed to the hospital because of brain bleeding in April. On the crowdfunding platform Shuidichou 水滴筹, Zhang set a goal of 1 million yuan ($147,830) to cover Wu’s medical bills, help his recovery, and promise him “a bright future.” In the description of the campaign, Wu’s mother further described Wu’s condition, saying that her “poor child is in desperate need of help.”

The questionable campaign 可疑的活动

be rushed to the hospital 被紧急送往医院

brain bleeding 脑出血

人才流失 brain bleed / brain drain

the crowdfunding platform 众筹平台

in desperate need of help 急需帮助

be in desperate need of .....   急需 ; 强烈需要.....

To legitimize their seeking of donations, Wu also provided some information about the family’s financial situation. According to her, Wu has no property registered to his name and the only substantial asset he owned was a car valued around 130,000 yuan ($19,200). While Wu had medical insurance, his family was considered a low-income household by government’s standards.

substantial asset 实质性资产

substantial cause 实质性原因

substantial completion 大致竣工; 基本完工

medical insurance 医疗保险

low-income household 低收入家庭

legitimize

表示"使（尤其是坏事）合法化；正式批准（或认可）" 英文解释为"To legitimize something, especially something bad, means to officially allow it, approve it, or make it seem acceptable."

Is that why you brought me here, to legitimize you to the world? 

这就是你要带我下来的原因帮你合法化这一切?

Although there was no mention of Wu’s relationship with Deyun Club on the donation page, internet users quickly found out that Wu was actually Wu Hechen 吴鹤臣, who became an apprentice of China’s most famous crosstalk performer Guo Degang in 2009 and soon joined his comic troupe.

apprentice 学徒

crosstalk performer 相声演员

comic troupe 喜剧剧团

comic book 连环漫画册

comic strip 连载漫画；四格漫画

comic and animation 动漫

吴鹤臣的妻子@张泓艺 回应称，100万是众筹的上限额度，截至5月3日晚已经筹到148184元，筹集费用暂时够用，水滴筹已经关闭。网友质疑的两套房子都是公租房，一套在父母名下，一套在爷爷名下，爷爷已经过世，两套房子均无法出售。车为婚前购置，家中有瘫痪病人，日常出行很是麻烦，何况家中还有两个，从昌平南口到天坛医院六十公里，车不能卖。

The discovery of Wu’s employment and the suspicious omission of this piece of information on Shuidichou naturally raised some eyebrows, with many skeptical netizens questioning if Wu’s family was trying to rip off well-meaning people in the wake of his illness. Amid widespread speculations, Zhang took to Weibo on May 4 to defend the campaign, saying that Wu’s monthly income was around 6,000 yuan ($887), which was not at all as high as people imagined. Zhang claimed that while the treatments only cost the family about 70,000 yuan ($10,347) so far, the ensuing expenses, which include renting a home near the hospital, hiring a patient care assistant, and getting regular checks, will eventually put the family in financial peril. Zhang also added that the family’s two properties in Beijing, owned by her parents and grandparents, were public housing units that can’t be sold and the vehicle was so critical for transportation that they couldn’t afford to lose it.

raise some eyebrows 引起一些人的质疑

skeptical netizen 持怀疑态度的网友

patient care assistant (PCA) 病人看护助理

financial peril 金融危机

omission

1) 表示"删节的东西；遗漏的东西"  英文解释: An omission is something that has not been included or has not been done, either deliberately or accidentally.

He was surprised by his wife's omission from the guest list.

他对于宾客名单上他夫人名字的遗漏感到吃惊。

2)表示"删节；排除；遗漏；疏忽 " 英文解释: Omission is the act of not including a particular person or thing or of not doing something.

The explanation, however, didn’t land well with many internet users, who argued that Wu’s family’s financial situation was not as dire as they claimed to be, and that compared to other impoverished people in need, Wu’s family came off as deceptive and greedy. “Are you attempting to make a fortune out of your husband’s illness?” an internet user commented on Zhang’s Weibo.

网友发现：

吴鹤臣4月8日脑出血，就在5月2日，他妻子发微博时新换了一个华为P30，要知道这款手机可是在4月8号之后上市的，售价5800左右。没钱治病，有钱换手机？德云社而且还发起了内部募捐。

Facing mounting criticism, Zhang ended the crowdfunding campaign on May 3. By that time, the campaign had raised over 140,000 yuan ($20,695) from 5,269 donors. But the termination didn’t do much to quell anger from netizens, who later discovered that Zhang purchased a smartphone priced at 12,000 yuan ($1,775) after she started the campaign. In addition, an announcement issued by Deyun Club on May 4 revealed that the troupe had already organized some crowdfunding activities for Wu.

     

The controversy also prompted Shen Peng 沈鹏, co-founder and CEO of Shuidichou, to weigh in. In a Weibo post (in Chinese) published on May 5, Shen said that Zhang hadn’t yet claimed the funds, adding that crowdfunding websites in China all lack “legal and effective ways to verify a fundraiser’s financial situation,” but Shuidichou is doing its best by asking for as much information as possible from its users. In light of the matter, ThePaper.cn published an article (in Chinese) today revealing that the weak management and loose supervision of Chinese crowdfunding platforms had resulted in a growing illegal business of faking medical reports and bills.

weigh in

表示"参加,参与(讨论等);对…发表意见"  英文解释: If you weigh in on a plan, decision, or discussion, you add your advice or comments to it.

The President's political advisers also weighed in on the plan... 

总统的政治顾问也对这项计划发表了看法。