A star of Stephen Chow’s 2016 box office smash The Mermaid, Zhang Yuqi, also known as Kitty Zhang, and her husband have divorced, it was announced on Thursday. The announcement came after a screenshot of a police report on a violent marital dispute went viral on social media.

Zhang was accused of wounding her husband, businessman Yuan Bayuan, with a fruit knife on Monday evening, a claim she denies, leaving him with two scratches to his back, around one centimetre (less than half an inch) long.

The screenshot was posted shortly after the incident on Monday evening and police confirmed the details of the report on Wednesday, according to Pear Video.

The report said an argument over trivial domestic matters had quickly escalated into physical conflict and Yuan had alerted the police soon after the incident. The couple was taken to the Ruijin Second Road police station in central Shanghai for mediation.

The Mermaid was one of mainland China’s highest-grossing films ever

The case is in the mediation stage, according to the police. On Thursday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the couple, Yang Tianzhen, released a statement on their behalf announcing they had divorced.

“A relationship from start to finish is only the couple’s business,” Yang wrote on her official Weibo account. “Today it is over. I hope the dust will settle and that nobody will privately investigate further.”

Zhang Yuqi attends the opening ceremony for The Great Gatsby at the Cannes Film Festival, France, in May 2013. Photo: Alamy

Internet users reacted with surprise, with some continuing to show support for the actress.

“Oh my god. Dare to love, dare to hate. If it doesn’t work out then leave, whatever suits her. Respect!” one commenter on Weibo wrote.

Zhang is best-known for her role in Stephen Chow’s 2016 smash-hit fantasy film The Mermaid, which broke Chinese box office records upon its release.

Originally from Shandong province, Zhang rose to fame after she was picked to star in Chow’s science fiction film CJ7 after graduating from acting school in Shanghai.

She married Yuan, a businessman, in 2016 after divorcing her first husband, the film director Wang Quanan, in 2015.



周星驰2016年票房大片《美人鱼》的主演，张雨绮，本周四，宣布和丈夫离婚。此前，警方对一起暴力婚姻纠纷的报道在社交媒体上疯传。

周一晚上，张雨绮被指控用水果刀刺伤了她的丈夫，商人袁巴元。她否认了这一说法，她的丈夫背部有两处划痕，大约1厘米长(不到半英寸)。

据（梨）Pear的视频显示，这段截图是在周一晚间事件发生后不久发布的，警方在周三证实了报道的细节。

报道称，一场关于家庭琐事的争论迅速升级为肢体冲突，袁某在事件发生后不久就报警了。这对夫妇被带到上海市中心瑞进二路派出所进行调解。



《美人鱼》是中国大陆有史以来票房最高的电影之一

警方表示，此案正在调解阶段。周四下午，这对夫妇的发言人杨天真代表他们发布了一份声明，宣布他们已经离婚。
“
“一段从头到尾的恋情只是这对夫妇的事情，”杨天真在她的官方微博上写道。“一段感情始终是两个人的事情，今日结束，愿一切尘埃落定，也望各位不再窥私探究。”



2013年5月，张雨绮出席法国戛纳电影节《了不起的盖茨比》开幕式。

网民们对此表示惊讶，一些人继续支持这位女演员。

“哦,我的上帝。敢于爱，敢于恨。如果不行，那就离开，只要适合她就行。尊重!一位微博用户写道。

张雨绮因在周星驰2016年的奇幻电影《美人鱼》中扮演的角色而闻名，这部电影在上映后打破了中国票房纪录。

张雨绮来自山东，从上海表演学院毕业后，她被周星驰选中出演科幻电影《长江七号》，从此一举成名。

她在2015年与第一任丈夫、电影导演王全安离婚后，于2016年与商人袁某结婚。