TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Singers, including By2’s Yumi Bai (孫雨) and Vivian Hsu (徐若瑄), have denied being Wang Leehom’s (王力宏) “friends-with-benefits,” and several brands have announced the termination of their partnership with Wang following accusations from his ex-wife Lee Jinglei (李靚蕾).
Lee’s social media post about her former husband exploded across the Chinese-speaking world after she posted late on Friday (Dec. 17). While it did not name names, the media and netizens speculated that Bai and Hsu are two of Wang’s mistresses, as there have been previous reports about an alleged love affair with Bai, and Wang broke quarantine rules to attend a party at Hsu’s home.
At 4 a.m. on Saturday (Dec. 18), By2’s company posted a photo of a police report receipt on Weibo (China’s Twitter equivalent) that lists Yumi Bai’s legal name and registers a claim of defamation. Along with the photo, the post included the statement, “Gossip is a fearsome thing. Public clamor can melt metal. Language kills. Sorry to inconvenience the police in the middle of the night. Your work is appreciated!”
Lee Jinglei replied to the post at around noon, writing, “Please give me the police’s contact information. I’ll provide the evidence. Thank you.”
A post on Vivian Hsu’s social media pages condemned media outlets and netizens for spreading false rumors, saying:
“Regarding the media’s reports of unconfirmed implications or untrue allegations against Ms. Vivian Hsu today, as well as the hateful slandering, re-quoting, and accusatory statements and accusations of netizens online, the Wei Wei Yen Entertainment Company shall ask for the retraction of inappropriate reports and statements on behalf of Ms. Vivian Hsu, or all of it will be met with legal action with no mercy!”
Facebook commentators noted the post was deleted once before being re-posted. Meanwhile, Hsu’s Weibo account has been emptied.
A few brands in China that had endorsement deals with Wang Leehom quickly severed ties with him. This included Infiniti China, which had announced the newly struck deal almost 36 hours prior.
When Wang was spotted at Beijing Capital International Airport on Saturday morning, he waved at cameras, according to Sina Entertainment. Commentators on Weibo accused him of being callous.
