A woman in Henan Province, China, has recently gone viral after posting a series of “public apology” videos to her husband on social media. The incident began when her husband maintained an extramarital affair with a married female colleague for five years. The woman, outraged, exposed the pair’s information online, but was in turn sued by her husband for defamation and ordered by the court to publicly apologize for 15 consecutive days. In response, the woman cleverly fulfilled the court order with “sarcastic apologies” that included consumption records, excerpts from the court ruling, and other evidence, attracting widespread attention and discussion among Chinese netizens.
According to various sources, the woman, Niu Na (transliteration), posted her first apology video on her Douyin account on January 12, 2026, titled “I admit my mistake and obey the judgment.” The video quickly garnered over a million views. As of January 16, the video had received more than 700,000 likes.
In her videos, she apparently complied with the court order to apologize, but simultaneously attached what she claimed were transaction records showing her husband’s luxury purchases for the third party, excerpts from the court verdict, as well as the original post which was earlier deemed infringing. Her apology statements included phrases like “meeting both material and physical needs of the employee” and “the two are true love,” which were interpreted by netizens as public accusations against her husband and his affair partner.
According to the verdict displayed in Ms. Niu’s videos, the court ordered her to post an apology to her husband (the plaintiff) on Tieba and her Douyin account, and keep it up for at least 15 days without deletion. After the judgment, Ms. Niu began her daily updates of the “apology series” and pinned relevant videos at the top. Some netizens suggested she identify the parties’ workplaces to facilitate “recognition”; in subsequent videos, she did so, continuing to use sarcastic terms like “good secretary” and “competent” for commentary. Currently, neither her husband nor the workplace involved has issued any public response.
Regarding this case, Du Jie, a partner at Beijing Longan Law Firm, told the media that Ms. Niu’s initial exposure of her husband’s name and workplace could constitute infringement of reputation rights and privacy. She cited relevant regulations, explaining that private information not intended to be public falls under privacy, and that defamation damages social evaluation, thus constituting a possible violation of reputation rights.
Lawyer Du Jie further stated that the court has a supervisory responsibility over implementation of judgments. If an apology merely aims to eliminate the adverse effects of the original infringement and does not further disclose private information or add insulting remarks, it is a legitimate performance of the judgment; on the other hand, if the apology discloses additional privacy or introduces new accusations, it may constitute a new infringement.
After the incident spread online, large numbers of Chinese netizens voiced support for Ms. Niu, believing her “adherence to the judgment” was a clever way to counterattack and defend her rights. The videos’ comments sections were filled with messages like “suggest extending the apology period” and “let the truth come to light.” The incident has also sparked widespread discussion on issues such as marital fidelity, personal privacy protection, and the boundaries of online speech.