Hong Kong celebrity scandal.

Wikipedia has summarized a big, bizarre scandal that's been playing out over the past two weeks in Hong Kong. It involves actor Edison Chen and explicit photographs of a number of Hong Kong B-listers, the only one of whom I know is Cecilia Cheung (장백지). She co-starred in the Korean film Failan (파이란) with Choi Min-sik and alongside Jang Dong-gun in the Chinese film The Promise (무극). Intimate photographs of Chen with a bunch of women were stolen off his computer when he took it in for repairs a few years ago. Shanghailist.com, to name just one site, has more information here and here, including updates and celebrity reaction, though some of the photographs are not safe for work.



Failan is a really nice movie, and not just because Cheung is an insanely beautiful woman. And it was also the first Korean movie I ever saw. She plays a Chinese woman who, after the death of her parents, ends up as a mail-order bride for Choi Min-sik, and is sent to work in the village of Daejin in Gyeongsangbuk-do Goseong county, Gangwon-do. Here's a scene from when she first arrives at her new home in Daejin . . . there have been many times when I could relate. It's really a charming movie, and while I obviously don't know Cheung, I feel bad about this situation because of it.

I don't have my pulse on the Chinese pop scene at all, so I don't know all the angles or what different people are saying. Posting on it is a damned if you do/don't situation, because it's a huge story over there with a bit of local interest here; however, obviously each post contributes to the feeding frenzy. From afar this mess is a testament to the notoriously rabid paparazzi of Hong Kong, and the lengths to which some lowlifes will go. And according to a couple of sources, the guy who released the photos has a ton more. If it's any consolation, looks like Edison Chen will be shamed out of films for a while. He's currently in North America with his 18-year-old girlfriend.