The big news this week is Lau Ding-sing’s (劉定成) private photo collection. The Apple Daily reported that the wealthy Hong Kong businessman claims to have 100,000 photos of partially dressed and fully nude male celebrities, including singer William Chan (陳偉霆), actor and director Daniel Wu (吳彥祖) and actor, singer and model Stephen Fung (馮德倫).
Needless to say, the three celebs have all denied posing for the 62-year-old Lau.
The cache, which Lau has been bragging about to any news outlet that will listen to him, also includes body builders, sports stars and pretty much anyone else who would disrobe in front of him for cash.
Photo: Taipei Times
But the lusty Lau might soon have the grin wiped off his face. Amidst much soul-searching in Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, where nascent actors are said to be lured into compromising positions to boost their careers, three unnamed actors and a fitness instructor have accused Lau of indecent assault. The case is ongoing.
Speaking of shutterbugs, a few weeks back Pop Stop predicted that if the paparazzi didn’t stop hounding Edison Chen (陳冠希) and his rumored teenybopper girlfriend Cammi Tse (aka Hsieh Chih-hui, 謝芷蕙), he would lash out at the media like Jay Chou (周杰倫) did outside a restaurant in Luodong (羅東), Yilan County last month. And so it came to pass — though Tse wasn’t involved.
According to NOWnews, Chen and his entourage spotted a few camera-wielding reporters while breaking bread on Saturday at a Beijing restaurant, and proceeded outside to confront them. During the ensuing struggle, a friend of Chen’s smacked one of the paps, a pummeling that was apparently caught on film. The reporter then cried foul to the police.
Now, if this were Hong Kong or Taiwan, the reporter would have been told to piss off, and that would have pretty much been the end of it. But in China, where as we all know the rule of law is paramount, Chen’s friend was promptly hauled down to the cop shop where he was forced to make an apology and pay off the reporter, whose camera was allegedly damaged in the kerfuffle.
If that weren’t enough, Chinese starlet Wu Sifan (吳思凡) has accused Chen of harassment after he allegedly sent her sexually suggestive messages.
Chen apparently got Wu’s phone number when they met on the set of Tourbillion (陀飛輪). In one text message, Chen invites Wu back to his hotel room. Another asks: “Do you want to play with me?”
Well, at least she’s legal.
After the news broke, another actress from the same movie claimed that Chen also sent her a text message inviting her to a menage a trois with Wu.
Netizens, however, are questioning the veracity of the accusations, claiming that Chen’s original texts were sent in English and all the messages shown on the Internet are in Chinese.
As one netizen commented: “Edison Chen has become a tool for starlets to promote themselves.”
Another starlet who appears to be drumming up attention for herself is Leni Lan (藍燕). The Chinese actress implied to reporters at a press conference held to promote the movie Hormone (青春荷爾蒙) that she prefers women to men.
“I’d certainly not choose men … [because] they don’t make me feel safe,” she said, according to Xinhuanet. Perhaps she had Edison Chen in mind when she spoke those words.
She added that her hero is Leslie Cheung (張國榮), a Hong Kong actor and musician who committed suicide in 2003. Media reports at the time suggested that he took his life because of problems with his boyfriend.
But all Lan’s talk about “coming out of the closet” (出櫃) is a little hard to swallow — and, in the context of Cheung, in poor taste. For this is the same Leni Lan who starred in 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy (3D肉蒲團之極樂寶鑑), a raunchy pornographic film that claims to be the first ever 3D adult movie.
This is also the same Leni Lan who revealed intimate details about her sexual exploits with Hong Kong director Stanley Tong (唐季禮) previously revealed to the Apple Daily.
It’s also the same Leni Lan who claimed that she was pursued by a horny Jay Chou.
An attention-getting ruse to boost ticket sales for her new movie, or a genuine admission that she’s gay? You decide.
While Lan blathers on about her sexuality, Chinese actress Lynn Hung (熊黛林) says that she’ll stop talking about her relationship with Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok (郭富城) after she “accidentally” spilled the beans that he had given her a three-carat diamond ring.
Kwok, for his part, told reporters at a press conference on Sunday for his new movie Christmas Rose (聖誕玫瑰) that it’s a private matter and refused to answer questions about a rumored secret wedding next month.
In other nuptial news, pop diva Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) says that her beau Vivian Dawson (錦榮) is definitely marriage material. To prove it, the couple spent Mother’s Day with Tsai’s parents at a Japanese restaurant.
But Tsai, who will release a new album this summer, told the paparazzi “not to read too much into it.”
And finally, it looks like Jackie Chan (成龍) has thrown his last punch as an action star. At a press conference in Cannes, where he was promoting his new movie Chinese Zodiac (十 二生肖), Chan said he’s bowing out of the entertainment industry because he’s getting too old for action scenes.
“It hurts, it really hurts,” he said. “The shoulder, the ankle, it really hurts. You don’t know because I still look healthy.”
However, after the news broke, the martial arts legend retracted his statement and said that he doesn’t in fact plan on retiring.
“What I meant to say is that I need to do less of the life-risking stunts on my movies. After all these years of doing so many stunts and breaking so many bones, I need to take better care of my body so I can keep working,” he said, adding that he would also like to spend more time directing and producing.
He added that he will continue to do “international” action movies and “will keep improving my English.”
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