Celebrity Weibo star Yao Chen sues newspaper

A high-profile Chinese actress and microblogger has filed suit against a Shanghai-based newspaper which she has accused of running a fake story about her, a media officer with Chaoyang district court confirmed Sunday.

Yao Chen, 33, brought to stardom by hit TV comedy drama My Own Swordsman, has alleged that on March 20, Laodong Daily named her in an article which claimed famous stars like Yao can earn 20,000 yuan ($3,226) if they endorse a product on Sina Weibo, and several thousand yuan for reposting a link, according to the court's press release.

Yao has more "fans" on Weibo than anyone else in China, estimated to be more than 44 million, according to Yao's Weibo homepage. In comparison, Justin Bieber has the most Twitter followers at just over 37 million on Sunday, according to website twittercounter.com.

"We've accepted the case. The hearing hasn't happened yet," said Huang Shuo, media officer with the court.

Yao has asked for the newspaper to publish an apology in print and on its microblog, as her reputation has been harmed. The article also named movie director Feng Xiaogang (Aftershock).

After the newspaper reports, some Web users tried to analyze Yao's posts to see if she had been advertising.

Weibo user QinNiangzhi said that Yao once posted a picture of an iPhone case. The Web user showed a screen shot which showed dozens of people reposted the message with a link to the online shop which sells the case.

Wang Zhen, Yao's lawyer, said that the newspaper needs to provide evidence to show how they got the information that Yao has charged for Weibo posts.

"It's the newspaper's job to get proof. It needs to get a concrete source before writing an article," said Wang.

Tian Jing, one of the two journalists who wrote the story, said that she is forbidden to give interviews now.

In 2011, Guangzhou Daily reported that both the grass-roots Weibo users who have many fans and celebrity microbloggers use it to make money.