Taiwanese star Barbie Hsu, best known for her role in the 2001 drama “Meteor Garden,” has died at the age of 48.
The news was confirmed on Monday, Feb. 3 in a statement sent to Taiwanese media by her family, through her younger sister and television host Dee Hsu.
“Thanks for all the concern. Over the Chinese New Year period, our entire family travelled to Japan for a holiday and my most beloved, kindest elder sister Barbie caught influenza-related pneumonia and has unfortunately left us,” Dee said in a statement sent to Taiwanese news outlet Star ETToday.
“I am thankful to be her sister in this life and grateful that we have taken care of each other and kept each other company all these years. I will always be thankful to her and remember her. Shan (Barbie Hsu’s nickname), rest in peace. We love you always. Together remember forever,” she continued.
The statement did not specify when or where she died.
Rumors of Hsu’s passing first surfaced online on Feb. 2, when a netizen posted on Facebook that a Taiwanese celebrity, married to a foreigner, had died at age 48.
Speculation quickly spread, with many initially dismissing it as a hoax. Hsu had been seen in good spirits at a wedding celebration in January and had appeared in a New Year’s post by her husband, South Korean musician Koo Jun-yup, on Dec. 31.
Barbie rose to fame in the early 2000s as the lead actress of “Meteor Garden,” a hit drama that began her regional stardom.
Barbie leaves behind two children—a 10-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son—from her previous marriage to Wang, whom she divorced in 2021. She later rekindled her romance with Koo, marrying him three months after her split from Wang.