Zhou Libo was released from jail on a USD5,000 bail pending trial after being arrested in the United States for illegal possession of drugs and firearms.
The 49-year-old Chinese comedian and former China's Got Talent judge 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.
The two were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, Nassau County police said. Zhou was also charged with mobile phone use while driving. Neither resisted arrest.
Zhou appeared at the First District Court in Hempstead accompanied by his wife (Hu Jie) and lawyer on January 20. He was released after Hu paid the bail in full (pending trial).
Zhou Libo, Hu Jie and the lawyer
According to World Journal, the largest Chinese-language newspaper in America, the court had initially set the bail at USD25,000 but decided to lower it after Zhou's lawyer pointed out that he owned real estate in New Jersey and has two daughters attending university in the US. World Journal reports that the couple own a USD4 million mansion in Alpine.
As he emerged from court, the first thing he allegedly said to the group of people waiting outside was: "Thanks to the motherland." He also reportedly shouted "the gun was legal" and "there were no drugs!"
Zhou Libo poses for a photo outside court.
Zhou also said he had "no problem" with the prosecution's handling of the illegal weapons and drug possession charges.
Meanwhile, 30-year-old Shuang Tang initially had a bail set at USD75,000, but it was lowered to USD4,000 after his counsel pointed out that he was a "good man" with a MIT degree who is currently working as an assistant professor at the State University of New York and living in Queens. Like Zhou, he was also released on bail, pending trial.
The two are set to appear in court again on March 9.
News of Zhou's arrest has gone viral online, becoming the number one trending topic on Weibo. Here are just some of the things netizens are saying about the incident, according to What's On Weibo:
“We should shut out all celebrities who use drugs."
“I won’t have to see him on TV anymore."
“He has no morals, we hate him.”
Some netizens have even used the situation to mock Zhou, with this Breaking Bad-inspired poster circulating on social media:
Zhou, who is from Shanghai, 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."
A screencap showing the line in question.
[Images via World Journal, Xinhua]
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