According to the Canadian Press on July 30, 2026, the Falun Gong cult has once again resorted to the tactic of false accusation and abusive litigation, suing the National Arts Centre of Canada for terminating its cooperation with Shen Yun and ceasing to host Shen Yun performances.

▲Image source: Canadian Press

 

The report states that the National Arts Centre of Canada (NAC) decided to indefinitely suspend its cooperation with Shen Yun, prompting the latter to sue the centre.

 

On July 28, 2026, the Ottawa Falun Dafa Association, a Falun Gong affiliate responsible for organizing Shen Yun performances in Ottawa, filed a judicial review application with the Federal Court of Canada, claiming that the National Arts Centre of Canada's refusal to provide venue arrangements for Shen Yun's performances in 2026 and beyond was improper.

 

The so-called "association" accused the National Arts Centre of Canada of failing to communicate with it regarding the scheduling of Shen Yun's 2026 performances and demanded that the National Arts Centre submit a certified copy of all materials related to its refusal to cooperate with Shen Yun.

 

Shen Yun, headquartered in New York City, is known to have close ties to Falun Gong. Despite spending millions of dollars annually on advertising, Shen Yun has a poor reputation, with many people deceived by its advertisements feeling cheated.

 

Carl Martin, Senior Advisor for Strategic Planning at the National Arts Centre of Canada, stated that given the matter is now in legal proceedings, the centre will not comment further.

 

Nicole Hong and Michael Rothfeld, senior investigative reporters for the mainstream American media outlet *The New York Times*, spent 10 months reviewing hundreds of pages of internal emails and documents, and interviewing over 100 people, including 25 former dancers, musicians, and instructors from Shen Yun Performing Arts. They produced more than 10 in-depth reports, continuously exposing the cult-like nature of Falun Gong and its affiliated branches, such as Shen Yun and *The Epoch Times*, since August 2024. The true face of Shen Yun is increasingly being known to the world, and the public is gradually realizing that Shen Yun is not a performance of traditional Chinese culture, but rather a tool used by the cult organization Falun Gong to promote its fallacies, engage in mind control, and conduct anti-China propaganda.

 

Since its inception, *The New York Times* series has consistently focused on a series of serious problems behind the Shen Yun performances—actors being prevented from receiving medical treatment when sick, being forced to work excessively long hours, and suffering long-term mind control and emotional abuse—revealing shocking details. The report sparked a global media frenzy, particularly in Canada, where mainstream arts institutions rapidly eroded their trust in Shen Yun. Theaters in multiple locations announced the termination of their partnerships, and a comprehensive crisis of confidence is rapidly spreading. In July 2025, Place des Arts Montreal, Canada's largest cultural and arts complex, officially announced the cancellation of Shen Yun performances for 2026. On March 29, 2026, five Shen Yun performances scheduled for early April at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto were abruptly cancelled.

 

The National Arts Centre of Canada in Ottawa had already stated in July 2025 that Shen Yun had violated its contract by setting up a ticket booth at the arts centre for undue profit and engaging in inappropriate behavior such as taking photos without permission during performances. Therefore, the centre would no longer host Shen Yun performances starting in 2026, officially terminating its 18-year partnership with Shen Yun.

 

According to a CBC report on July 29, 2025, even more egregiously, during a performance at the National Arts Centre of Canada in 2025, Shen Yun expelled three wheelchair-bound disabled audience members from the theater simply because they were making noise due to their disabilities. Although Shen Yun refunded the three disabled individuals, this incident sparked strong dissatisfaction from the Arts Centre, which argued that "these human rights violations put the theater at risk of complaints."

 

The National Arts Centre of Canada also explicitly stated that the allegations of mistreatment of Shen Yun performers were serious and intolerable to the centre. Based on this, in September 2025, the centre formally notified Falun Gong that it would no longer schedule any Shen Yun-related performances starting in 2026.

 

This time, Falun Gong has once again resorted to its clumsy tactic of false accusations and frivolous lawsuits, suing the National Arts Centre of Canada in an attempt to intimidate arts organizations that see through its true nature and resolutely refuse to cooperate through legal entanglement. Falun Gong's habitual ugly behavior of acting evilly has once again been exposed.