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VANCOUVER — An Asian cinema superstar takes his laptop in for repairs, and a few weeks later, his career is over. Or is it?
Vancouver-born actor and hip hop star Edison Chen took a deep breath yesterday and admitted to a packed Hong Kong news conference that he took explicit photographs that have been circulating online for weeks, featuring him with beloved actresses and pop stars in compromising positions.
"I would like now to apologize to all the people for all the suffering that has been caused and the problems that have arisen from this," Mr. Chen, 27, said in his first appearance since the scandal broke. "I would like to apologize to all the ladies and to all their families for any harm or hurt that they have been feeling."
He said he had returned to Hong Kong to account for himself after spending time with his mother. Online fan sites and celebrity blogs speculated he had been riding out the scandal in Vancouver and visiting a girlfriend in Boston.
Edison Chen arrives to face the media at a press conference in Hong Kong on Thursday. (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images)
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Mr. Chen also announced that he will take a break from his career, which has included starring roles in The Grudge 2 and Infernal Affairs, which Martin Scorsese remade as The Departed.
"I will wholeheartedly fulfill all commitments I have to date, but after that, I have decided to step away from the Hong Kong entertainment industry," Mr. Chen said. "I have decided to do this to give myself an opportunity to heal myself and to search my soul."
Mr. Chen's troubles began when he dropped off his customized pink MacBook at a computer repair shop. According to reports, an estimated 1,300 explicit photos of Mr. Chen having sex with several famous partners were copied from his hard drive.
Beginning in late January, the photos were leaked onto the Internet, a few at a time, embroiling not just Mr. Chen, but many of his partners - including canto-pop star Gillian Chung of the duo Twins, and actress Cecilia Cheung.
After initial suggestions that the images were doctored, Mr. Chen's admission yesterday erased all doubt.
"I admit that most of the photos being circulated on the Internet were taken by me, but these photos were very private and have not been shown to people and were never intended to be shown to anyone," he said.
Police in Hong Kong have made several arrests in the case. And this week the Xinhua news agency reported that the search engine baidu.com had been asked by the government-sponsored Beijing Association of Online Media to make a public apology for spreading the images.
The scandal has dominated the Chinese celebrity media, and became a fixation for fans well beyond Asia. Facebook groups, blogs and traditional media outlets' websites are filled with postings commenting on the scandal, many supporting Mr. Chen.
"We're looking at a world where there's globalized Chinese pop culture," said Graham Johnson, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of British Columbia, and an expert on Hong Kong. "[Edison Chen] straddles several worlds."
Dr. Johnson said there's little surprise that media interest in Hong Kong has been so intense. "The media are intrigued by scandal," he said. "To catch somebody with his pants down is wonderful copy, right?"
Sex scandals do not necessarily end celebrity careers. Rob Lowe, Pete Townshend and Paris Hilton all bounced back after headlines about on-camera or online activities.
So why the threat to Mr. Chen's career?
"It's the difference between culture in Hollywood versus culture in Asia," Toronto technology expert Jesse Hirsh said. "The Internet is a culture clash of relativist morality versus a much more traditional morality."
Mr. Hirsh said the Chen case is a cautionary tale, even for the non-celebrity masses.
"I think of this as the dawn of the age of transparency, the surveillance society, where a lot of people have false senses of privacy," he said. "The risk [with keeping records of even consensual sex] is ex-lovers, ex-girlfriends, service repair guys, scorned stepchildren would all be in a position to obtain these files and share them with the world.
"This advice is true even for people who aren't amateur pornographers," he added, given that many people store personal information on their computers.
Mr. Hirsh recommended against taking a computer to a repair shop. Look for someone who makes house calls, and even then pay close attention.
"Think of your laptop as intimate space," he said.
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