Do we like Jet Li?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A decent record with no harmful words found, held back from higher by an unresolved 2014 funds row and by how little he has said on the things we care about.
Li Lianjie was the youngest of five kids in Beijing, and his father died when he was about two. At eight he was sent to wushu training, won his first national title at 11, and held the all-around national title for five years running. It was a hard route out, but it made him.
The screen career followed as a teenager, starting with Shaolin Temple, then Hong Kong action films and a run in Hollywood in the 2000s. The stage name Jet came from producers who said it was fast, like an engine. He later became a Singapore citizen in 2009, and he has said he cops online mocking for it: “Some people will mock you no matter what you do.”
The turning point was off-screen. He started the One Foundation in April 2007, and by late 2008 Time described him as a full-time relief worker after the Sichuan earthquake. His own line on it: “Philanthropy is my passion and my life now.” That's a long way from a celebrity slapping his name on a gala.
The messy bit came in 2014, when Chinese media reported claims that 300 million yuan had been embezzled from his foundation's earthquake funds. Li denied it in an open letter, saying he had no power to authorise transfers, and the foundation said most of the money was earmarked for rebuilding five schools, with work starting in July. We found nothing in the pages we read that showed the claim was true, but also no final ruling either way. Years earlier, relatives of kung fu master Huo Yuanjia sued over his film Fearless and named Li simply because he starred in it.
On harm, there's honestly not much to report. We found no remarks from him against LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants, vaccines or the climate, and no record of him platforming people who push that sort of thing. Silence isn't the same as a ringing endorsement, so call it a clean pass on a thin file rather than a gold star.
The kindness shows up in the details. Hong Kong media reported in 2017 that he donated about HK$5.8 million to the family of his stunt double, who died on the set of The Expendables 2, and reportedly wanted it kept private. A star who does that and doesn't brag is the one you want.