Earlier this month, Zhou Libo made his first appearance in front of a US court, where he faces charges of drug and weapons possession.
The Shanghai-born comedian and China's Got Talent judge was arrested in New York in January for illegal possession of crack cocaine and a firearm. He is pleading not guilty, and the case has been adjourned to June 9.
Zhou joked and smiled as he and reporters captured video of his attorney, Hugh Mo, briefing the press outside the Nassau County courtroom on April 7.
Mo expressed confidence in the case:
“He does have confidence in the judicial system; he does have confidence in his lawyer; he does have confidence in the fact that hopefully at the end of the day we’re going to come out and hopefully resolve this to his satisfaction.”
The 49-year-old and another man, Shuang Tang, were pulled over by police in Long Island, New York after their black Mercedes-Benz was driving erratically in the early hours of the morning on January 19.
Police discovered a loaded Colt Mustang 0.38 caliber pistol and two bags of crack cocaine in the back of the car, and the men were immediately arrested.
Zhou was released from jail on a USD5,000 bail and Shuang on a USD4,000 one, both pending trial.
Zhou became famous around a decade ago for his unique style of comedy, which combined Mandarin, Shanghainese and some English phrases. He called it "Shanghai Style Small Talk." From 2010 to 2015, he was the host of the Mr. Zhou Live Show, which is considered by some to be the first comedy talk show in China.
The 49-year-old comedian also served as a judge on China's Got Talent as well as a similarly formatted show, Amazing Chinese.
In 2016, Zhou became the first Chinese stand-up comedian to perform at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.
Zhou once joked about selling drugs on a 2014 episode of the Mr. Zhou Live Show. "Don't worry, I'll never do drugs," he said. "Even if I would deal drugs, I still wouldn't use it."
[Images via World Journal, Xinhua, Shanghai Daily, East Oregonian]
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