Wong Kar-wai’s ‘Blossoms Shanghai’ Controversy, Explained

Wong Kar-wai’s first-ever TV show, Blossoms Shanghai , premiered on the Criterion Channel on November 24, a little over two years after it started airing in China and became a critically acclaimed hit. The 30-episode epic, set in 1990s Shanghai and based on a book of the same name by Jin Yucheng, marked Wong’s first major project since 2013’s The Grandmaster . But the long-awaited North American release of this period drama was preceded by weeks of modern drama offscreen, with the auteur behind films such as In the Mood for Love , Chungking Express , and Happy Together facing accusations of engaging in workplace exploitation and making controversial comments. The controversy stems from a series of allegations and purported recordings shared on Chinese social media by a