Cai also appeared in fashion spreads in magazines such as Elle and Cosmopolitan and landed lucrative partnerships with dozens of luxury brands, including Prada and Tag Heuer.
The sex scandal, however, has cast a dark cloud over his future.
On Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, content related to Cai’s corporate product endorsements appears to have been scrubbed on the official accounts of some companies.
Details of the scandal first emerged via a blogger.
Last week, a well-known celebrity photographer who goes by the name Jiang Xiaoyan, backed up the blogger’s claims that Cai had a one-night stand with a woman referred to as “Ms C”.
The pair met through a friend at a Beijing KTV in May 2021.
It is also alleged that Cai coerced the woman into getting an abortion when he found out she was pregnant a month later.
Another allegation is that Cai’s mother suspected Ms C was attempting to blackmail her son.
In leaked audio that surfaced online, a woman who Jiang claimed was Cai’s mother was heard saying: “I don’t think she will agree [to the abortion] so quickly. Go withdraw some cash, about 100,000 to 200,000 yuan (US$28,000). There’s no need to give so much at once...”
The mother is also alleged to have hired a private investigator and installed a hidden camera outside Ms C’s apartment to monitor her activities, Jiang claimed.
In early July 2021, Ms C aborted the baby, according to the original accusations of the blogger.
Days after the scandal exploded on mainland social media, Cai responded on July 3 with a lengthy post to his more than 38 million social media followers.
“The relationship between me and Ms C was voluntary,” Cai said. He denied rumours the woman was a minor and that there was forced abortion. “The relationship did not involve illegal activities,” he said.
Cai also promised to change his behaviour.
“This lesson has been painful for me. In future, I will strictly constrain my words and actions and accept public and societal supervision,” he wrote in the post.
Cai did not respond to Jiang’s accusations about his mother, but his studio has said it is taking legal action, claiming that it has evidence of false statements about “dating a minor” and “coercive abortion”.
In recent years, China’s entertainment industry has seen multiple crackdowns on dodgy financial practices and perceived immoral behaviour.
Several celebrities have disappeared from public view after being embroiled in sex or tax scandals.
Online discussions in China have drawn heated comparisons between the Cai controversy and another scandal involving Chinese-Canadian superstar Kris Wu, who was sentenced to 13 years in jail last year after being found guilty of date rape.
