Some artist introductions are about a breakout single or an upcoming tour. Zhao Lusi’s story is about something heavier: what happens when one of China’s most beloved young stars goes public about years of hidden pain, and comes out the other side still singing.
From Rom-Com Sweetheart to Household Name
Zhao Lusi, known to English-speaking fans as Rosy Zhao, is a 27-year-old Chinese actress and singer from Chengdu, Sichuan. She built her career on a string of hit romance dramas that turned her into one of the most recognizable young actresses in Chinese television: The Romance of Tiger and Rose (2020), The Long Ballad (2021), Love Like the Galaxy (2022), and Hidden Love (2023), among others. Alongside acting, she’s regularly recorded vocals for her own drama soundtracks, building a modest but consistent singing career that runs parallel to her screen work.
For years, the public image was straightforward: a warm, expressive actress with an easy rapport with fans and a steady stream of hit dramas. What most audiences didn’t know was how much was happening behind the scenes.
A Health Crisis Years in the Making
In a lengthy Weibo post in late December 2024, Zhao revealed that she had been living with depression since 2019 and had started seeking professional psychological help in 2021. She described the toll it had taken on her physically as well as mentally: pneumonia, hives, and hearing loss in 2023, followed by nausea, dizziness, and joint pain that intensified through 2024.
The disclosures came shortly after fans spotted her in a wheelchair and noticed her Weibo account had briefly gone offline. Her team confirmed she had been hospitalized in December 2024 and would be pausing work to recover. In the post that followed, Zhao pushed back on the idea that her condition was exaggerated or simply a matter of “letting go” of stress, describing depression instead as an illness that required real treatment.
Allegations Against Her Agency
The story didn’t end with the health disclosures. Around the same time, a friend and former actress alleged publicly that Zhao had experienced ongoing physical and emotional abuse connected to her management dating back to 2019, reportedly including a verbal and physical incident involving someone associated with her agency.
Through 2025, Zhao herself became increasingly direct in describing her dispute with her management company. She has accused her agency of withholding proper medical treatment while she was seriously ill, taking control of her personal studio’s finances without authorization, and pressuring her to stay silent under threat of professional blacklisting. In August 2025, she went as far as sharing a certified clinical assessment diagnosing her with anxiety and depression, after her camp’s claims were publicly disputed. Her agency has denied wrongdoing.
Several figures in Chinese entertainment, including actress Xue Jianing and singer G.E.M., publicly voiced support for Zhao as the allegations spread.
The Agency Pushes Back
Zhao’s agency has not stayed silent. After her initial allegations, KU Media issued a statement denying wrongdoing and maintaining that they had always supported her professionally. When Zhao escalated her claims in August 2025 — including sharing the clinical anxiety and depression diagnosis — the agency responded that they were “deeply shocked” by her account and again pushed back on her version of events.
Zhao didn’t let the denial stand unanswered. She responded with a detailed rebuttal, reportedly including screenshots and timelines, and at one point replied to the agency’s statement with only a green tea emoji — internet slang in China for someone who appears innocent while quietly manipulating a situation. As of the most recent reporting, KU Media has not issued any further clarification beyond its denials, and the dispute remains unresolved.
A Fragile, Emotional Return
Zhao made her first public appearance since the crisis on January 25, 2025, arriving at a fan event in a horse-drawn carriage and walking with the help of a cane. Fans who’d organized to support her reportedly received transportation, lunch, and dinner from Zhao herself — a small gesture that became a symbol of the mutual loyalty between her and her fanbase throughout the ordeal. In the months since, she’s continued to speak candidly about the toll of overwork, at one point describing sleeping only around two hours a night during a past drama shoot.
A New Song, and a First in Tibetan
Zhao returned to music on July 15, 2026, with “小小 (One Glimpse),” a track adapted from the Nepali song “Jhim Jhimaune Aankha.” Drawn to the strength of the original melody, Zhao used the project to attempt something new: her first time ever singing in Tibetan.
The collaboration behind the song is its own story. Zhao invited Yongji, a Tibetan child she’d met through a variety show, to travel to the recording studio to sing on the track — a gesture described as helping fulfill the child’s own “small wish,” which gives the song’s title a second layer of meaning. She also brought in singer Yangjinma to coach her Tibetan pronunciation and record backing vocals. The result is a song built from voices of different ages, backgrounds, and languages responding to one another, with lyrical imagery of moonlight, snow mountains, bonfires, and grassland standing in for the marks people leave on each other when their paths cross.
The stated idea behind “小小” isn’t a grand declaration of love, but something quieter: that the world is vast enough for people to spend their lives moving in entirely different directions, and small enough that a gently sung line can still close the distance between strangers. Some listeners comparing the Tibetan-Mandarin version to the original Nepali lyrics have noted it leans more introspective and bittersweet — dwelling on longing and the feeling of waiting rather than simply celebrating a connection already found. Coming from an artist who’s spent the past two years being unusually open with the people who’ve stayed by her side, it’s easy to see why fans have read extra warmth into that shift in tone, even if the song’s own framing is about connection in a broader, more universal sense.
Why She Matters to US Audiences
Zhao Lusi’s dramas have already found real audiences abroad through streaming platforms that carry Chinese period romance and youth dramas. But her story over the past two years also taps into a conversation US audiences increasingly recognize: the human cost that can sit behind a polished entertainment industry, and what it looks like when a young star chooses to speak publicly about it rather than disappear quietly. For readers just discovering her through her music or her dramas, the fuller picture — talent, hardship, and a genuinely emotional fan relationship — is part of what makes her worth paying attention to right now.
