Eileen Gu, aka “Genocide Barbie,” the U.S.-born skier who competed for China in the Beijing Winter Olympics, has been awarded the ESPY for “Breakthrough Athlete of the Year.”
During her acceptance speech, Eileen Gu thanked her grandmother and mother for teaching her to be a “strong, empowered woman” before finishing off with a statement in Mandarin.
Before she won Gold for China in the women’s Freeski big air competition, Gu received a torrent of criticism on Chinese social media for claiming the dictatorship tolerates internet freedom. The incident began when an Instagram user scolded Gu for failing to see how China stifles freedom of speech.
“Why can you use Instagram and millions of Chinese people from mainland cannot,” the user said. “Why you got such special treatment as a Chinese citizen. That’s not fair, can you speak up for those millions of Chinese who don’t have internet freedom.”
Gu replied: “[A]nyone can download a vpn its literally free on the App Store.”
Gu was either unaware or oblivious to the fact that China only allows its citizens to use approved social media apps. At the same time, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp are blocked in the communist country. As Breitbart News has profiled numerous times, China has a stranglehold on internet freedom, frequently blocking VPN services and punishing those who try to bypass the censorship while constantly pushing out its own propaganda.
Eileen Gu has been highly successful as a fashion model in China, with a portfolio that includes ads for Gucci and Louis Vuitton. She has become one of the country’s biggest celebrities, with immense exposure through her modeling career, fawning state media coverage, and flashy ad campaigns.
Breitbart News previously did an extensive profile on Eileen Gu and her ascent to become what Americans later dubbed the “Genocide Barbie.”
As for the increasingly woke ESPY Awards, the ceremony’s viewership has been steadily declining since it awarded Caitlyn Jenner the “Courage” award in 2015.