TW-star Barbie Hsu Confirmed to Have Passed Away While On Holiday in Japan Hours After Rumors Spread Wildly From an Anonymous Post About a Top Taiwan Actress Dying
Da S, Yi Lou Hao Zou 一路好走. I really am speechless and after so many posts covering the news of Asian celebs passing from accident, illness, and/or suicide, this one really hit home. TW-actress Barbie Hsu (also known as Da S) is confirmed to have passed away this week, she was 48-years old and is survived by her second husband Korean DJ Koo Jun Yup and her two young kids with her first husband Beijing entrepreneur Wang Xiaofei. It’s been a wild Sunday night/Monday morning in Taiwan ent as news broke late Sunday night in Taiwan from an anonymous post on a Japan travel FB page that a top Taiwan actress had passed away from an illness while vacationing in Japan, with hints that the actress was 48 years old, was from the Meteor Garden generation of stars, was married, and had kids. All signs pointed to Da S and TW-media went crazy, texting and calling her younger sister Dee Hsu (Xiao S) as well as their close TW-celeb friends. All texts and calls went unanswered, but since it was the middle of the night it could just be everyone was resting and this was such a ridiculous thing to even respond to. But Monday morning Da S’s ex-husband Wang Xiaofei’s Weibo SNS account profile picture was changed to an all black square and media and netizens went even more berserk. Then less than a hour later, Xiao S’s agent posted and confirmed that Da S had passed away, she got a cold in Japan which led to pneumonia and her demise. RIP to one of Taiwan’s most recognizable leading ladies of the modern era, even if she hasn’t acted in over a decade she left such a strong impression as Shan Cai in MG. I am also old enough to remember fondly her popstar phase with Xiao S when they were the duo known as S.O.S. (Sisters of Shu). The year of the Snake is legit off to the worst start possible.



RIP, Da S 😭💔 I’m your fan since I was 6 years old. You were a great actress, host and singer. I feel heartbroken right now, I just can’t stop crying. Thank you for your contribution and legacy to the Asian entertainment industry, you are such a huge loss, condolences to your family and loved ones 🙏
💔
😥 can’t believe this is real, so sudden. I watched her dramas growing up.
RIP
Speechless.. may she rest in peace and that her family has a strong support system right now.
Wow this is so sudden. We really never know when our time is up. May she rest in peace, and condolences to her family and friends ☹️
That’s terribly sad. So young. My thoughts to her family.
This is so shocking… I’m so speechless. I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet for me.
May she rest in peace.
Doesn’t Japan have antibiotics or hospitals? The finger will point to the husband for not taking care of his wife. Condolences to her family, especially her young children.
The comment about her husband is uncalled for.
By the way, influenza-associated pneumonia is viral; you do not use antibiotics for that.
Entire family was there. Can’t point to the husband alone. There must be some underlying cause but it feels so sudden and fast.
It said that the husband wasn’t in the trip with them, he is not there and will follow them after
@Popcorn I’ve always read that this was a family trip. Could you be referring to her first husband, who was reportedly in Thailand and immediately flew to Taiwan after learning about the news?
Wow. Shocking. MG is the only Taiwanese drama I ever watched and its the best version of Hana Yori Dango to me. It’s true, her Shan Chai left a very deep impression. RIP.
This really makes me so sad and shocked, for her to die so young and so soon after seemingly having found happiness in her first love. I was really hoping that her divorce would lead to her restarting her career, but alas, it was not meant to be.
She was my first foreigner crush and Meteor Garden was THE one that singlehandedly led my country to shift from Latino telenovelas to Asian dramas 22 years ago. It is one of the only two Asian dramas to command 50%+ ratings in my country (Full House is the other), and even today’s teens are well aware of her.
RIP, Barbie Hsu(DA S) you’re always be remembered.Shan Cai of Meteor Garden. 💐
Terribly sad news 💔 I also loved her in Mars. Condolences to her family and friends.
I thought it was a cruel joke. I’m so shocked. She lived ehr life the way she wanted to, she did it her way and when things settled, now this. Can an otherwise healthy 48yo getting cold leading to pneumonia just die? Delayed treatment? Medical incompetence? Underlying illness? Insane. I’m so shocked.
She has history of epilepsy and heart disease remember,and before that she nearly died after miscarriage of her third child.
Geez,I hope I don’t ever meet patients like you. So fast to point and lay blame.
Yes people die. And you don’t know her medical history. Do you think the media reports everything accurately?
RIP
OHHMYGOSH. I’m. So. Sad. “Mars” changed my life! It was the first time I critically analyzed a story past gushing. May her children, family, and friends find comfort as they grieve.
So sad. Hopefully her second marriage was a great one and prayers over her family and loved ones left behind.🥺
This is such shocking and saddening news😭 She was so young! How utterly heartbreaking for her family and especially for her young children. May she rest in peace.
this is a real shock, so sad for her family and her kids, wishing them strength and may she rest in peace.
It still doesn’t seem real, Meteor Garden was the first ever Chinese drama I watched and her acting as Shan Cai was so memorable to me, it was really heartwarming to hear of her reconnecting with her first love (now her second husband) and finding happiness again, I’m sorry she couldn’t live longer to enjoy her happiness
Holy shit! I thought this was a joke or the rumor mills making stuff up again. This can’t be real. She’s so young! 46 and usually takes good care of her health. For such a young woman, she’s had an outsized influence on TW media starting off as Shancai in MG. And then private life affairs that always top front pages. She’s an icon. Unbelievable. Xiao S and her kids must be so heartbroken right now. I’m sure her husband is too, but they weren’t together as long as her family has been with her. This is gonna be such a shock to Xiao S. To me, she somewhat relies on Da S as an anchor…and now. Wow. Just wow.
I didn’t really follow Taiwanese drama during its heydays in the Asian market. But Da S and her younger sister were very prominent and had had very strong presence in T-ent for a long time. Almost everyone on the streets in Taiwan knew them before she got married. This is so sad. I feel for her surviving family, especially for her two kids and mom. This is very hard for them.
Her poor children and family. My condolences.
Unfortunately she was never a healthy woman.she has history of almost been close to death due to breathing issues and suffers from epilepsy. Thus she did say she would not have anymore kids after her bad miscarriage.
Her death caught me by complete surprise, I watch her show growing up, she is similar in age with me. I was sad when she broke up Vic Zhou after a long relationship, her marriage so just too sudden for me, her divorced did not surprise me. Her later marriage to Koo Jun Yup was sudden but so sweet and she looks happy with him. I get happy whenever I see photos of them together.
I cannot imagine how her loved ones can cope with her death. How will her kids’ life change from now? Her kids and her inheritance will be talk about in media next. It will get messy.
I have very strong dislike for Wang Xiaofei’s mum. She is not a good person to Barbie in life, she will get her son to take back the kids. The law will give the kids to Xiaofei as Koo Jun Yup did not legally adopted the kids. Xiaofei does love his kids alot, that is undoubting. As for the inheritance, I really wish that will be handled properly. I hope Barbie wrote a strong will.
In Asia now on CNY vacation – when I heard got texted the news from Canada yesterday, I replied “fake news”,
Until I googled it, and all the official news outlets had articles on it. It was super shocking, to say the least.
RIP.
I hope she finds moves on finding more peace in a new better world, and leaves all the custody/ex and ex mil bickering and worries completely behind. I hope she enjoyed her past 2 years with her first love. Leaving behind whatever hypocrisy over what’s real/what’s fake (put on performances for the world to see) behind
She went serenely, looking like she was sleeping, from news accounts (yes she had some pre-existing health conditions but yet she survived the pandemic era) .
I think it was ‘fake news’ too..as I read before it became official news.
@HL, when i mentioned it in a previous post, i was wishing for Fake news ( it seems that’s only when it’s about politics)but sadly it wasn’t , i always saw her as a etheral creature , she left …, i read your motto about enjoying life with our loved ones to the fullest, it’s great, but i’m not a solar person ( under medication since years for severe anxiety), Barbie Hsu was the heroine of the 1st asian drama i ever watched, with Arial Lin and Rainie Yang . Their dramas helped me when i was going under hard period so her death shaked me . It’s the first time i talk about it, but last year my dear and beloved mother passed away , she was diagnosed with a cancer just one month before , she was someone who used to do all the medical examinations , even now i’m still angry against medical world . I could afford to bring her back to home under palliative care , she didn’t know that she was dying, she could see all her family whenever she wanted, watched dramas, listen music ,chatted with me , i was next to her night and day until she passed away in my arms . Even now i’m still denying that she isn’t there …
@cahill, I am so sorry to hear. I am on life long anti depressants as I have my condition manageable now but still need medication to do its things or else I will lapse.
Barbie’s death shocked me..death of people can really trigger us to think alot.
@HL, i feel sorry for you too , It’s already 20 years that i’m under medication , still manage it but sometimes even a little thing without importance for others can hit me very hard and things that scare others don’t fear me . It’s something that people who don’t experience it can’t understand .We are all different as snowflakes . The brain still has so much mysteries that even E Musk will not be able to resolve, it may be why he is more attracted by space ! My weird sense of humor !
I was working when my younger brother and sister, friends and colleagues sent me this news. People around me know well that i was a big fan of ‘Shancai’ and hardcore fan of MG. I used to follow her news. But this news is still shocking.
RIP, Jie. You’ll be remembered.
May she rest in peace. This feels extra tragic given that she was happily reunited and married to her first love (after 20 years) these past few years and this happening so soon after Lunar New Year, when she and her family would have undoubtedly been exchanging greetings of wishing each other good fortune and health.
I really liked Da S as an actress and host. She and Xiao S had such an adorable sisterhood. Their variety shows always brought a smile to my face. My heart sunk when I saw at IG that she has passed away. Even though it has been a few days now I still can’t believe it is true. If I feel this way, it must be worse for her family. I hope Xiao S can handle the legal things for Da S and take care of her children for her. May Da S rest in peace.