The rise and fall of a Chinese-Canadian pop star

In November of 2018, the Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu was at the peak of his fame: young, confident, unstoppable. That month, he released his album Antares, and the record was a phenomenon, with seven songs landing on the American iTunes top 10. Standing six-foot-one, with Cupid’s-bow lips and a V-shaped face, he was known as a Xiao Xian Rou, which in Mandarin Chinese means “little fresh meat,” a slang term describing the new generation of young male idols, revered for their delicate features and alabaster skin. And he was more than just a pop star: he landed film roles playing romantic heartthrobs and ancient action heroes, and he hosted and produced China’s first TV rap competition, The Rap of China, which drew 100 million viewers within a few hours of its debut and more than a billion by the sixth episode. At Madame Tussauds in Shanghai, a wax replica of Wu stood…