A netizen claiming to be the owner of a retail store Yawn Beijing broke the news that “Youth With You 3” trainee Liam Yan Xi (彦希) had stolen something in their shop. They shared a video captured by the surveillance camera afterwards. Some netizens identified that “thief” in question appeared be the survival show contestant based on the surveillance footage.
Store Exposes A Footage of Yan Xi Stealing
The controversy first arose when the store owner shared a video of a thief swiping a toy ring from his store. The post was made on Douban, and some netizens identified the individual as Yan Xi. However, many netizens found the situation too impossible to be true. Yanxi is a well-known and rich second-generation child. He was also an ex-trainee at SM Entertainment and could seemingly afford anything he wanted. Many found it was difficult to imagine he did such a thing.
Yet, in the video, Yan Xi was suspected to have stolen a toy ring.
As there was no one in the store, Yan Xi appeared to take the toy ring and wore it. Afterwards, a security guard came in. Yan Xi saw the guard and placed the ring back in its place. After the security guard left, he quietly put the ring on his hand and followed suit, seemingly suspecting that he had kept the view of his hands hidden in his sleeves.
After checking a few things repeatedly, he left the shop. It turned out that the store was outside the bar, so it was open until two in the morning. At that time it would be too late to man the store, and thus, and there was no one in the store.
The shop owner showed little mercy in his WeChat moments when shared a video footage of Yanxi grabbing the things from his store without paying. The owner wrote, “Another thief has been stealing in our store… I can confirm this thief is a celebrity, a trainee of Youth With You 3. Let’s meet on the trending news tomorrow.”
In the early hours of 25th May, Liam Yan Xi responded to the incident on a livestream. He apologized and then said that he had been drinking alcohol that night and was intoxicated. However, he insisted that he did not steal anything.
The Former SM Trainee Addresses Stealing Allegations
In the livestream Liam Yan Xi clarified that he thought that the shop was also part of the bar where he was drinking at. At that time, he went to the store after visiting the washroom. As there were no store attendant at the scene, and the security guard was in the bar, he was misled to believe that the shop was also a part of a bar. Later, he went back to the bar and told the staff that the ring he took should also be calculated as part of the bill for ddrinks.
Since the bill totalled up to more than 3000 RMB, and He thought that the money for the toy ring had also been included in the bill. In other words, he mistakenly paid the bar for the ring instead of the store clerk. Still, he issued an apology for being intoxicated and not paying the right individual.
In the livestream where he did outside the store, he said, “I apologized again for this matter, saying that I drank too much and misunderstood!”
Although Yan Xi had tried to reach out to the store owner to resolve matters, his attempt was initially turned down by the latter as they did not want to blow up the matter further.
Yan Xi Gets Cleared of Theft Allegations
After reaching out to contact the store owner, Yan Xi finally managed to clear his name.
The shop owner also wrote a statement on Weibo that clarified the Yan Xi ring stealing incident. The store’s official Weibo page wrote, “This incident is a misunderstanding. Mr. Yan Xi did not steal, apologies for occupying public resources.”
Later, Yan Xi’s studio also issued a statement saying this was a misunderstanding. Following the incident, the two parties have communicated with each other and resolved their misunderstandings.
For context, Yan Xi was one of the trainees on the show, “Youth With You 3” that aired early this year. The show has since been suspended due to its failure to adhere to the Beijing broadcast regulations.
