China $131 Billion Singles’ Day Faces Stagnation After Scandals

A year ago, one of China’s most famous internet celebrities sold about $1 billion of products -- from shampoo to scarves -- in a 14-hour livestream as part of Singles’ Day, the country’s annual e-commerce extravaganza.

This year, the 37-year-old super saleswoman known as Viya won’t take part in the world’s biggest shopping event at all after disappearing from the internet since being fined for tax evasion. A slew of other popular livestream stars who have found themselves caught up in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on celebrity are also likely to be missing this year, dulling the glamor and likely hurting the takings of the marathon event that ends Nov. 11.