Thanh Lan is a popular Vietnamese American singer and actress. She was unable to leave Vietnam at the Fall of Saigon in 1975. In 1994 during a sponsored series of concerts in the United States, Vietnamese protesters accused her of colluding with the Hanoi government and being a communist sympathizer. Although she had been a beloved singer during the 1970s, in the US she became the subject of forceful protests and even death threats. She canceled all but one of her concerts, gave interviews pleading her case, and finally prevailed in her quest for asylum.