Read the bare facts here; for the naked truth, go to Fleshbot.com. Don't say you weren't warned. (I saw this on Yahoo Singapore; the link appears to be inactive.)

It's sad that people all over the world still freak out over seeing people enjoying their sexuality. It's sad that people will have their careers, perhaps lives, ruined over such a harmless, if completely irresponsible, thing. I do really have to question their judgement, though. I mean, really -- Edison Chen? What were they thinking?

The real story here is how its being handled by the media, and it's a media frenzy, and no one covers the illness of the media better than Roland Soong, at this link.

-- Peter

This link should work, Bob. And it's SHOCKING!! SHOCKING!! ;)

Last month the sky was the limit for Edison Chen, this month I'm getting the feeling his career is over for good. First sign: Stephen Fung to reshoot some scenes from his upcoming movie, possibly to remove him from it, according to this news report.

One has to wonder if his cameo in the increasingly ill-fated THE DARK KNIGHT will remain.

Wonder what they are going to do with the latest Dante Lam film, SNIPER, set to release shortly. Delay? Pull? Straight to Video? Or just go ahead and release it?

And hey while we're at it, let's round up the Infernal Affairs movies and send them to George Lucas, let's get him the hell out of those, too!

He can stay in NINE GIRLS AND A GHOST, though. I'm fine with that.

-- Peter

I think "The Dark Knight" will remain the same. Won't affect Americans as much. In fact, it might boost his presence to mainstream America since CNN and ABC News covered this story already. The way I see it, he should lay low from the hong kong entertainment industry and concentrate elsewhere. It doesn't look like he'll be welcomed back to Hong Kong anytime soon.

I'm amazed by people's eagerness to click on the links and comment on the pics.

I don't understand how people fail to realise that this is a private thing and most definitely not allowed for public viewing. Maybe everyone is confused because these people are famous.

Yeah I love to gossip about celebs and comment on their looks too but only when they are aware that the films/pics will be made public and take the risk.


As for the careers of who are involved, I hope that this will be forgotten in a few weeks. There is damage done to Gillian's image (and I suppose Disney will let her go) but who knows what will happen in a few years?

Edison has the money and connections, I think he'll bounce back.

The person I feel most for though is Cecilia, not because I think she is the best Chinese actress of her generation (I do) but because she is a mother now. I hope that Nic will be a good person and stand by his wife (I remember Tony was a pillar of strength when Carina went through rough times) and that these pictures will be erased from the face of the earth so that her son will never be exposed to them in any stage of his life.

If you wanted to be sarcastically funny, you could say that it is appropriate for Edison to get a lot of publicity now, because after all it is the year of the rat. Or maybe you could say he is the number one rat of the Earth Rat year.

The pictures keep coming and coming. It seems like he got together with everyone! With that in mind, plus insomnia, I wrote this little article for a friend of mine's humor website, Shangzilla. I don't know if he'll like it enough to publish it, though.

Naked pictures of you with Edison Chen released to the media Saturday

According to the Hong Kong press, those naked pictures you let Edison Chen take of you with his webcam were released to several web sites Saturday. They include several nude shots, one where you are giving oral pleasure, those ones with the lacy tights, and the one you forgot about where you were wearing a police uniform.

As the scandal continues to unfold, Chen recently released a statement to YouTube in which he did not apologize for taking naked pictures of you. He did not apologize for storing them on his computer where they could be downloaded by any third party who gained access to the machine. He also did not apologize for taking his computer to a random repair shop to be fixed, thereby giving total strangers access to photos of you and other people. However, he did apologize to anyone whose feelings had been hurt by the photos’ exposure.

The photos can now be found on several forums, including those on Tianji.com and Baido.com. They are next to pictures of Edison Chen with Regina Ip, Nina Wang and your mom.

Hello,

Two quick notes. Although I'm an idol nut, I tend not to follow the personal lives of my favourite stars outside their professional work. I'm not following the story and have no interest in what my ou-hsiang do in their private time. That noted, I am curious on the general effects of the scandal on the stars' overall work. Case in point: it's going to be awfully hard to watch Edmond Pang's "Beyond our Ken" again in light of recent news (as a Charlene fan, am hoping she had the good sense not to get involved with Edison. Echoing Peter's earlier sentiments, I must say I could understand falling for a raffish Daniel Wu, an unmarried Nic Tse, a Jay Chou, or even a Nicholas Fung. But Edison--WTH?)

Second, I don't know how many of you follow Chinese news, but judging by the HK media's reaction to the star controversy, Anglophone readers in the West are not being well severed by the non-Leninist Chinese press (owing to historical reasons, the partisan press in Taiwan could still be described as "Leninist.") The Chinese Media Project at Hong Kong University has an interesting article on how the storm of the century in China is being eclipsed by leaked naughty photos. See:

http://cmp.hku.hk/2008/02/01/852/

This is how the scandal found its way to my country's shores

(the news is from a middle brow newspaper, with average circulation numbers, you can find the Turkish version at the bottom)

"Sex scandal that shook Asia

Asian continent was put in turmoil by the pictures that were taken while Hong Kong's most famous pop star Gillian with actor Edison Chen.

When the images stolen from the computer of the 27 year old Gillian they became the number one agenda for the Hong Kong and Chinese press. Even the priests commented that Gillain who became the darling of the millions with her innocent face and clean voice can not be the one in the pictures. However Gillian faced the press yesterday and said "I accept that I'm very naive and stupid. I apologise to my fans". Hong Kong police said that the person who leaked the pictures to the internet has been caught."

Ok don't even try to count how many things are wrong in the above news item. The funny thing was that they put a picture of Cecilia and one with Edison and Gillian looking at the camera (I'm guessing at the moment since I didn't see the pictures). So I guess they don't even think that the readers will be able to differentiate between Cecilia and Gillian.


"Asya’yý sarsan seks skandalý

Hong KONG’UN en ünlü pop þarkýcýsý Gillian Chung’un, aktör Edison Chen ile seviþirken çekilmiþ fotoðraflarý Asya kýtasýný karýþtýrdý

27 yaþýndaki Gillian’ýn bilgisayarýndan çalýnan görüntüler internete sýzýnca Hong Kong ve Çin basýnýnýn birinci gündem maddesi oldu. Rahipler bile masum yüz hatlarý ve temiz sesiyle milyonlarýn sevgilisi olan Gillian’ýn görüntülerdeki kiþi olmadýðý açýklamasýnda bulundu. Ancak Gillian, dün basýnýn karþýsýna çýkarak, “Çok saf ve aptal olduðumu kabul ediyorum. Hayranlarýmdan çok özür diliyorum” dedi. Hong Kong polisi fotoðraflarý internete sýzdýran kiþinin tutuklandýðýný açýkladý."

MF: Thanks for the laugh. From now on I think I'll always think of Edison and a little ticking time bomb, just waiting to go off and destroy a whole bunch of careers. And speaking of Edmond Pang: His latest, TRIVIAL MATTERS, seems suddenly a bit more relevant/ill timed as well (not that I've seen it yet, only the commercial that shows Eason Chan trying to talk a girl into oral sex).

EastSouthWestNorth has now compiled a page of news up to today, and it must be seen to be believed, considering the scandal has had more consecutive front page stories in a row than any other news story in recent history, including SARS, and has included drama like lone internet posters making posts in protest of police action, and even marches in front of the police station in protest of their actions.

Back in the day the HK film industry was sufficiently feisty enough to make trashy films out of its own scandals (THE CALL GIRLS comes to mind); I have little hope that the current anemic, mainland-pandering, talent-drained industry can do much to turn this "challenge" into an "opportunity," but I guess as long as there is Wong Jing, there is hope.

-- Peter

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/business...ess&oref=slogin


The above link is to The New York Times' coverage of this story. My heart goes out to everyone affected, but esp. Gillian because she seems to be getting the most unwelcome attention and I happen to like the Twins. Does this mean the end of their act? Does anyone on the ground in HK have any sense of how this is ultimately going to pan out for their careers? For me, this comes after two years or so of witnessing J-pop careers I like crashing and burning over the most innocuous nonsense (e.g. being photographed with a cigarette in one's hand) so it's just become a lot to handle. :(

In light of the scandal, Edison Chen has announced his retirement to quit the Hong Kong entertainment industry. Go here for a Youtube video of his statement (in English) to the press along with attendant comments by another:-

http://batgwa.com/story.php?id=635

He said it all, yet now it seems especially too late if the Police have been involved and he co-operating since the start of the pictures being stolen and uploaded. He should have had a Press conference/apology at the beginning of the photo outbreak, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but if he knew ALL the photos had been stolen from his computer storage then this may have diffused it - a little? Were they all trying to ride it out, surely not for such a long time?

Now if only Wong Jing had a webcam back in 1992...

Can't blame him for taking this long to make a public announcement.
He was in complete shock and had a hard time to react immediately. It's better to take some time before making final decisions. However I think people should be aware that the keyword is "Hong Kong entertainment industry". That might hint something. He can still be doing movies in Japan and America where he has established himself.

But, given that the primary objective of multi-national casting is to increase a films bankability in the local market from which the artist originates, I can't imagine that that strategy will work. As long as he is toxic in HK, I would think he is toxic everywhere.

I don't think it'd make any significance in America.
Americans don't know him. So he has a chance to make his way back to the top in America. Although his roles would be very limited over in Hollywood.

Nonsense! he could play...

1) a kungfu guy
2) a corrupt Chinatown cop
3) a guy who drives a suped up street racer

So HK is different than the US in that here, celebs accidentally release their sex tapes after their careers have already tanked, in hopes that the controversy will generate newfound interest in them. I think 99% of people aren't ever as "outraged and offended" by these things as the press claims we are.