Chinese singer Zhu Zhiwen, known as “Brother Coat,” says repeated online complaints have led to the cancellation of more than a dozen commercial performances. In a November 13, 2026, profile, The Paper reported that he had returned to his home in Zhulou village, Shan county, Shandong province, where he was gathering evidence and meeting a lawyer.
Zhu said online users had spread false claims about his finances and family. These are allegations about him, not established facts. He told the reporter that he was prepared to pursue those responsible even if it meant giving up singing and earning a living through farming instead.
Zhu first took legal action over his reputation in 2022, according to the report. Early cases were resolved mainly through civil mediation. In a later private criminal prosecution against a person who had repeatedly targeted him and his family online, the defendant received a six-month prison sentence after proceedings that lasted about two years, the article said.
Fame at his front gate
Zhu became known through singing programmes in 2011. As mobile livestreaming grew around 2017, crowds began gathering outside his village home. The report describes people filming through gaps in the gate, over the courtyard wall and even with drones, turning his daily routines into online content.
In 2020, two men kicked open his gate after drinking. Police detained each for 10 days for picking quarrels and provoking trouble, according to the article. About a year later, another man broke open the gate with a sledgehammer; Zhu called the police, who took the man away. He subsequently reinforced the gate and added surveillance cameras.
Despite the intrusion, Zhu has stayed in Zhulou. Village Party secretary Zhu Yucheng told the reporter that Zhu had paid for kindergarten repairs and fitness equipment and contributed 500,000 yuan toward a village road. Zhu also continues to farm. During the summer harvest, he told the reporter that childhood memories of scarce food were one reason he still values growing crops.
Zhu’s public appearances have also changed. In 2026, he performed at a music festival and took on costumed roles at tourist attractions, including one based on an online nickname, “General of the Southern Heavenly Gate.” He defended such work as earnings from his own labour. At the same time, the report shows the strain of remaining visible: Zhu said he appreciates some of the publicity generated by people filming him, but wants less of his family’s life exposed.
