Hong Kong actress at the center of an Internet sex photo scandal has broken her silence about the incident, lashing out at the pop star who took the compromising pictures.
Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝), one of several local celebrities shown in the photos with Hong Kong-Canadian actor and singer Edison Chen (陳冠希), said he had never apologized, and that she was still reeling from the ordeal a year later.
“He has never apologized to us personally,” Cheung told iCable in an interview broadcast late Friday, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
“He should at least have called us to say sorry if he genuinely admitted his mistake.”
She added: “The photos are still circulating online. How can we live a healthy and happy life? How can we put ourselves back on our feet?”
The photos — showing Chen in compromising positions with various celebrities including Cheung, Canto-pop star Gillian Chung (鍾欣桐) and former actress Bobo Chan (陳文媛) — became an Internet sensation when they were posted a year ago.
Cheung said she decided to break her silence after Chen gave evidence earlier this week in a Canadian court in the case of the computer technician charged with illegally posting the photos online.
The 28-year-old Chen for the first time identified Cheung, Chung and Chan in the Vancouver court as some of the women in the photos, but said later outside court he wanted to “protect” them and that they had “suffered enough,” the Post reported.
Cheung, also 28, angrily retorted: “You should not have come out [now] … saying one thing but doing another in a bid to win the public’s forgiveness whilst hurting us.”
Hip-hop star Kanye West trashed Radiohead and said the public should give Chris Brown “a break,” during a recent taping of VH1’s Storytellers. But the comments did not make it to air when the episode premiered on the US cable network on Saturday.
The taping, which took place on February 13, lasted three hours. The show’s producers cut it to 90 minutes, after getting network approval to expand the episode from its usual one hour.
During the taping, according to a Reuters reporter, West was aggrieved that Radiohead singer Thom Yorke had allegedly snubbed him backstage at the Grammys. That hurt, West told the audience, because he idolizes the British band, and considers it one of his few creative rivals. “So when he performed at the Grammys, I sat the f--- down,” West said.
A little later, West asked the crowd, “Can’t we give Chris a break? … I know I make mistakes in life.” He was referring to R ’n’ B singer Chris Brown, who was arrested on the night of the Grammys on suspicion of beating his girlfriend Rihanna.
Brown and Rihanna, meanwhile, were reported on Friday to have reunited, less than three weeks after he was alleged to have assaulted her.
The handful of optimistic Guns N’ Roses fans still holding out for a reunion of the band’s classic lineup can probably call it a day.
In a newly published interview, singer Axl Rose describes former bandmate Slash as “a cancer,” elevating his distaste for the top-hatted guitarist to a new level.
Rose is the only original member left in Guns N’ Roses, whose first studio album in 17 years, Chinese Democracy, bombed badly in November. Slash quit the band in the mid-1990s, with both sides offering different reasons.
In a rare interview, published on Friday at AOL Music’s spinner.com Web site, Rose sat down for a friendly chat with his pal, songwriter Del James.
When the topic of a reunion inevitably came up, Rose said it was “highly doubtful for us to have more than one of the alumni up with us at any given time.”
“I suppose [former bass player] Duff [McKagan] could play guitar on something somewhere but there’s zero possibility of me having anything to do with Slash,” Rose said.
“In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided — and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters the better.”
Rose was not even a fan of Slash’s guitar playing, claiming he has lost his edge and seems to be more passionate about being “a whore for the limelight.”
As for the other former bandmates, Rose said rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin’s recent guest turns on stage with the band were fun, but that his old Indiana buddy was not the most reliable collaborator.
And drummer Steven Adler, who was fired in 1990 for excessive drug abuse, brings “assorted ambulance-chasing attorneys … One gig or even a couple songs could mean years of behind-the-scenes legal aftermath.” The drummer, who successfully sued the band for royalties, was recently seen on reality shows Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew and Sober House.
Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen, 28, married National Football League star Tom Brady, 31, in Los Angeles on Thursday, Us Weekly reported. The celebrity magazine said the ceremony took place at a Catholic church and the guests were mostly immediate family members. The bride wore Dolce & Gabbana as did her three dogs.
The Slumdog Millionaire child actor from the shantytowns of Mumbai who won the hearts of international audiences at the Oscars’ ceremony has apparently also regained the affection of her mother, who walked out of her life five years ago.
Nine-year-old Rubina Ali, who plays Latika, the childhood sweetheart of the hero the movie, returned this week to the Garib Nagar slum to find herself the center of unwanted attention. Amid the thronging crowds was her mother, Khushi, who says she wants to return to share the limelight with her famous daughter — and perhaps the new flat she was awarded.
Khushi left Rubina’s father Rafiq, a carpenter, and their three children five years ago to marry “some rich person” and never came back. “We have brought up Rubina after her mother left her. Now that Rubina has become successful, [she] is claiming the flat, which has been given to Rubina,’’ Rafiq told the Indian media.
The upsurge in maternal feelings is lost on Rubina, who told reporters: “Why did she leave me when I was a baby? I will stay with my father.”
The urban Indian media has been charmed by Rubina, a rare occurrence in a country where the poor are at best pitied. In one telling exchange, she was asked what it was like to be in a Hollywood movie. She replied: “Those people were very good. They never hit us.”
Gaotai Mountain (高台山) and the three Daotian Peaks (小中大島田山回來) afford visitors a truly rewarding hike in Hsinchu County (新竹). Located in the foothills just beyond the charming Neiwan Old Street (內灣老街), the hike is well suited for hikers in a fair to good physical condition. It’s also a good introduction to the foothills of northwest Taiwan, along with some more adventurous — but still not terribly dangerous — rope and scrambling sections. As a bonus, there are Japanese ruins, hot springs and river tracing destinations such as Meihua Waterfall (梅花瀑布) and Bilin Waterfall (比麟瀑布) all located nearby. WHISPERING PINES The first section of
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