Entertainer Aaron Yan (炎亞綸) and comedian “Nono” Chen Hsuan-yu (陳宣裕) are facing allegations of sexual assault as controversies rock showbusiness after a recent spate of accusations against political and media figures.
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office last night announced a probe into allegations that Yan leaked a sex video of himself and musician Chiu Yao-le (邱耀樂), who uses the nickname Raku on YouTube.
Earlier in the day, Yan upstaged a news conference that Chiu had called.
Photo: CNA
Yan entered the room, bowed twice to Chiu as the latter broke down in tears, and spoke for about 10 minutes before Chiu had composed himself.
Chiu, who lowered his head when Yan entered the room and did not look up for some time, asked Yan: “Was it you who disseminated the sex video?”
Yan denied doing so, saying that it was leaked after he took his mobile phone to be repaired.
File photo: Taipei Times
He has said that a technician downloaded the video and circulated it among his friends.
Chiu said he was not sure about accepting Yan’s apology.
Prosecutors later launched an investigation, saying that the allegations went beyond mere sexual harassment, as Chiu has said that he was 16 when he was in the relationship with Yan.
File photo: Taipei Times
Judicial officials said that as Chiu was underage at the time, Yan might have contravened the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒少性剝削防制條例) by having sex with a minor and disseminating a sex video involving a minor.
An investigation is under way, prosecutors added.
Yan and comedian Chen are among several figures in the entertainment industry mired in sexual misconduct scandals in the past few days after allegations against entertainer Mickey Huang (黃子佼), actor and singer Wang Yu-sheng (王宥勝), and show host and comedian Jeffery Hsu (許傑輝).
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office called on people to provide evidence and testimony to initiate an investigation after several women, including YouTuber Anissa (小紅老師), accused Chen of forcing himself upon them in vehicles and parking lot washrooms.
Chen initially denied knowing Anissa and others who posted the accusations online and said he could not recall any such incidents.
However, more than 20 women have made accusations since Tuesday that Chen assaulted them.
Anissa yesterday told a news conference that she had been in touch with the other accusers.
Chen’s agent wrote on Facebook that the comedian would stop taking part in entertainment events with immediate effect and would undergo “sincere reflection.”
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of