HK star apologizes after nude pictures leak online

Mon Feb 4, 2008 12:27pm EST Reuters
By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Popular actor and singer Edison Chen apologized on Monday after images appearing to show the Hong Kong star partially nude in the company of several starlets leaked onto the Internet.

In a video statement Chen, 27, called the postings of the photographs "intentionally hurtful and malicious."

"I hereby use this opportunity to apologize to anyone who has been affected by this strange, strange ordeal," Chen said.

Police believe the images were copied from Chen's computer when it was serviced last year.

"If you ever downloaded any of these images, please do not forward them to anyone ... If you are still in possession of these images, I urge you to please destroy them immediately," a subdued-looking Chen added in the video.

The photographs, which appear to show Chen in bed with singer Gillian Chung, along with suggestive images of actress Cecilia Cheung, were recently posted online, sparking a media frenzy in the celebrity-mad former British colony.

Hong Kong police said some 1,300 private shots of celebrities had been stolen from a faulty personal computer.
"A person had taken his computer to be fixed, but during the maintenance period, someone used dishonest means to take some information from the computer and distributed this information indiscriminately to others," assistant police commissioner Wong Fook-chuen told reporters. 

While the police gave no specific names, Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper reported the photographs belonged to Chen.

"A person in the shop found hidden inside (Chen's) computer, confidential nude pictures of naked female stars, which were then secretly copied," Ming Pao reported, quoting an anonymous source.

The computer shop was subsequently raided by police officers in a widening investigation across the territory, which has led to eight arrests for infringement of obscene material laws, and the seizure of over 1,000 explicit images, including four women whom were public figures, the police said.

Hong Kong's police commissioner, Tang King-shing, said the case was being treated seriously and warned the possession and distribution of such images might be illegal.

(Editing by Matthew Jones)

Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:32am EST Reuters

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Gillian Chung, one of several prominent Hong Kong stars caught up in a nude photo scandal, said on Monday she was naive and apologized for the incident that has sparked arrests and a media frenzy.

Chung, 27, previously known for her squeaky-clean image, made her eagerly awaited statement before a mass of reporters and video cameras flanked by Charlene Choi, her singing partner in the female pop duo "Twins."

"I admit that I was naive and very silly, but I've grown up now," Chung said, without explicitly saying she was in the photos.

"I want to thank my company, family and friends for their concern," she said in her first public comments since the nude images trickled onto the Internet a fortnight ago.

The photographs, which appear to show Chung naked in bed with male star Edison Chen, and suggestive images purportedly of around half a dozen other celebrities, including actress Cecilia Cheung, were recently posted online, provoking blanket tabloid coverage in the celebrity-mad former British colony.

Edison Chen, 27, apologized last week in a video statement, and called the postings of the photographs "intentionally hurtful and malicious."

Hong Kong police said some 1,300 private shots of celebrities had been stolen from a faulty personal computer, which local media have reported belonged to Chen.

A police investigation across the territory has so far led to eight arrests for infringement of obscene material laws, and the seizure of over 1,000 images.

"As for the influence this incident has had on society, I apologize. In the coming days I will continue to focus on my work and face up to my life," Chung added, amid cheers from her fans. 

Emperor Entertainment Group, which manages Chung, had initially said in a statement that the photographs were digitally altered fakes.

RELEASE OF PICTURES OF HONG KONG STARS IN THE NUDE

IN VARIOUS COMPROMISING SITUATIONS SETS TONGUES WAGGING ACROSS ASIA

Shanghaiist February 5, 2008

Hong Kong celebrities Edison Chen (陳冠希), Bobo Chan (陳文媛), Gillian Chung (鍾欣桐) and Cecilia Cheung (柏芝) are currently embroiled in an embarrassing sex photo scandal that has whipped up a storm in the territory and the rest of the Chinese-speaking world. It all started on 27 January when various photographs of people resembling the above-named celebrities were all posted one after the other including the Hong Kong Discussion Forum and free.photo.girls.hk. The photos in question included:

• A girl resembling Gillian Chung (from the squeaky-clean group Twins) with breasts peeking out from her bikini and her legs spread apart. In another picture, a man resembling Edison Chen performs cunnilingus on her.
• A girl resembling Bobo Chan (Edison Chen's ex girlfriend) performing fellatio on him, with his love lollipop in full glory.
• A dazed-looking Cecilia Cheung posing in uniform in one picture, and nude in a bathroom in another.

As ESWN points out, the pictures were released in a phased rollout, leaving eager netizens "waiting all night and all day at the various bulletin board systems in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China". Chung's company, Emperor Entertainment, soon declared the pictures to be photoshopped fakes and Ming Pao Daily News, Apple Daily, Oriental Daily News and The Sun took that position in their front page stories subsequently. But as more and more photos were released into public domain, the newspapers soon changed their tune.

Netizens say the bathroom the Cecilia Cheung lookalike was photographed in looks like that of Edison Chen's as seen in his blog. She also sports the same belly ring, earring and tattoos as the real Cecilia Cheung. Various photography experts have also told the media that the pictures do not seem modified. Even the Hong Kong cops soon conceded that the pictures appear real.

Obviously, Shanghaiist is a respectable blog, and there is NO WAY we're telling you how to get a hold of those pics. (We've been told if you Google or Baidu hard enough, you will get what you want. Be careful of the viruses lurking out there when downloading stuff though!) Let's just say that after getting hold of the whole set of pics (including some high resolution ones), we found it hard to believe that the pics were doctored.

Our journalist friends (around the region) also tell us of how their colleagues have been gathering around computer monitors analysing the entire range of pictures together. Most of them appear to have made up their own minds. Among the exclamations frequently heard in offices and at lunch across Asia this week: "OMG! Cecilia is so hairy! She could use a shave!" and "Oh dear! He is so small!"

Edison Chen, currently in Boston, took a while to break the silence on his blog:

yes i have been silent and everyone thinks i am hiding but today there will be a press release and i hope u can all read from that and report the TRUTH and do some homework before trying to ruin someone's life, cuz that is exactly whut u are all doing to me putting false statements on the FRONT PAGE sex photo scandal ever of newspapers and to others as well

In the latest video released yesterday, a contrite-looking Edison apologised to all the victims who've been "been affected by this strange, strange ordeal" and urged viewers in possession of those pictures to "please destroy them immediately". (And if you're wondering why Edison's speaking in English, he's Canadian)

That, unfortunately, may have come too little, too late. Reports are now saying that Gillian has attempted suicide following the scandal. And Cecilia's husband Nicholas Tse 謝霆鋒 (who used to date Faye Wong 王菲), has threatened divorce, although his father Patrick Tse 謝賢 has since denied those rumours.

In the meanwhile, police have raided a computer store in Hong Kong and nabbed eight people in all, four of which are currently out on bail. How did these people get hold of the pictures you ask? Sing Pao has the answers [Translation by ESWN]:

According to an informed source close to the person who was the source of the photographs, several months ago Edison Chen sent his pink Apple Powerbook laptop to a Central computer shop for repairs. The technician made the accidental discovery that there were several hundred photographs and videos of Edison Chen and/pr more than a dozen celebrities/artistes (many of whom were listed by the media and netizens as prime suspects after the first photographs of Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan and Cecilia Cheung appeared), and he downloaded them onto his own computer.

The informed source said that the technician only intended to keep the material for his own enjoyment. Then one day he invited some friends over to his Ma On Shan apartment to play mahjong and he casually mentioned that he had some "good" stuff to show them. When his friends saw the material, they were astonished and lobbied him to post to the Internet. He did not want to do so himself, because he knew that Edison Chen has his contact information. So finally a female friend agreed to undertake the task of posting onto the Internet. That was how it happened.

Police also added that the nabbed computers contained some 1,300 racy private shots of celebrities, including six women, two of whom had yet to be identified. In the meanwhile, public sentiment appears to have turned against Edison, who is now accused as the culprit in the scandal. The Straits Times reports that in a 'Who's guilty in the photo scandal' poll on the Hong Kong Discuss Forum on Sunday, about 76 per cent of voters said the photographer was guilty and 12 per cent pointed to the ones who uploaded the photos. Police now need only get hold of Edison's computer to verify that he was actually the source of those pictures.

Note: Shanghaiist has not publicised any pictures apart from those that are already in the public domain through the mainstream media.

Kira returns?

February 14th, 2008 http://theblemish.com/2008/02/kira-returns/

Two new pictures were leaked today in the ongoing Edison Chen scandal. One featuring Bobo Chan and another of Rache Ngan (?). These may give hope to people waiting for the release of the source video as it may indicate Kira was not paid 1.3 million USD to go away. As the scandal continues into its third week, Edison will return to Hong Kong on Sunday to give a formal statement about someone stealing pictures from his computer. He may have to testify. Reports also say Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung are seperating and will divorce as a result of these pictures which were seemingly taken right before their marriage.

One has to wonder. Is a life of shame and embarrassment the fate that befalls all women who don't wax, shave or trim? The answer, I believe, is a resounding 「yes」.

NSFW pictures here and here. Read the conspiracy theory from Hades translated by Labyrinth after the jump.

Latest News!
Kira received 7 million HK dollars, disappears forever.
Beijing, Feb 12, 2008