KFC let its decade-long Lu Han deal quietly expire after his livestream outburst

On 6 January 2025, Lu Han — a former EXO member and one of China's most bankable pop stars — lost his composure in a late-night livestream, showing a middle finger and swearing on air. Clips spread within hours. By that evening, Douyin, Weibo and Xiaohongshu had all disabled the follow function on his accounts, and his studio issued an apology on his behalf. The Paper and Beijing Business Today both reported the platform moves the same day.

At the time Lu Han held more than ten active endorsements — Beijing Business Today's tally listed KFC alongside skincare and dairy brands. KFC had been his endorser for nearly a decade, one of the longest-running celebrity partnerships in Chinese fast food, and his endorsement work was still running the day before the outburst.

The scandal did not end the endorsements; it stopped their renewal. A year later, in January 2026, KFC's ten-year contract expired with no renewal — no announcement, no goodbye statement — and Tencent News reported in February 2026 that Lu Han's public endorsement list had 'gone to zero overnight' as the year opened. The gap ended in March 2026, when Fulu Jia, the craft-beer brand controlled by Mixue, announced Lu Han as its first global ambassador, per Beijing Business Today via Eastmoney.