Edison Chen Breaks His Silence

[Guest Tonyc402]

On CNN Talk Asia Interview

Heres an exclusive interview , article and 3 part video.

June 2 2009

He has been at the center of Asia's biggest sex scandal, but now actor Edison Chen has broken his silence on the public episode that has ended careers and caused him to suffer death threats.

Talking exclusively to CNN on his return to Hong Kong, where he had been forging a career in the movies, Chen reveals his side of the scandal that broke in early 2008.

It centers on sexually explicit photos of him with other celebrities that appeared on the Internet, leaked by a former employee of a computer repair shop.

Last month Dicky Sze Ho-chun, a computer technician from Hong Kong, was sentenced to jail after being found guilty of dishonestly obtaining access to the intimate photos.

The photographs caused a media outcry in Hong Kong and across Asia, with around 1,300 salacious images fueling front page news for tabloids for months.

It also caused a huge public backlash against the 28-year-old who has been one of the rising young stars of Asia cinema.

Added to the media attention, Chen faced death threats -- a bullet was sent to a TV station in Hong Kong warning him to stay out of the limelight -- forcing him to leave Hong Kong to live in the USA, Canada and Singapore for the last 15 months.

While the sensational aspects fueled the saga, the incident also caused a heated public debate on the issue of privacy on the Internet.

While Chen issued his own apology for any hurt or embarrassment caused soon after the photos surfaced, he maintains he was a victim in the whole affair.

"I believed I was a victim. I believed that I was hurt by this a lot. I believed that...I knew that I had nothing to do with the spreading of these photos," he told CNN.

"I can't say I didn't do anything wrong. I've admitted that I was wrong and I wouldn't say sorry if I wasn't wrong, but I also believe that at the same time that I wasn't the perpetrator and I had suffered a lot from this as well."

Chen has suffered a spectacular fall from grace, and some of the starlets in the photos have endured similar public disgrace and for some their careers have been ruined, unable to work in Hong Kong's entertainment industry again.

Chen admits not having spoken to any of the girls identified in the photos since the scandal broke.

"Initially it was because I couldn't find them. Secondly, it was because I didn't really know how to approach and really what to say to be honest with you," Chen told CNN.

Cecilia Cheung was one person identified in the photos, who accused Chen of being a hypocrite and a fraud who ignored her while the episode was unfolding in a very public way.

"I wasn't allowed to talk to her in the initial because of the police request and they were investigating me. I was the one who had to go on trial, you know. I had so much things on my mind," said Chen.

"I'm not trying to say that that justifies any wrong doing that she thinks I've done to her, but I hope that she can understand and I hope that she can forgive me either today or one day, and she'll understand that I had my difficulties and I really, really never wished this to happen upon anyone and I still respect her."

INTERVIEW VIDEO LINK: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/06/01/...ison/index.html

SOURCE: CNN http://english.cri.cn/6666/2009/06/02/1321s489417.htm

[Guest angelic_betrayal]

I watched all three parts. I hope Edison was being totally honest in this interview and I will believe what he says. This really cleared a lot of things up and I hope Hong Kong and all the other people will forgive them (although there really isn't much to forgive) and welcome them back into the industry. People do stupid things and its not like the people involved leaked them out. He said he deleted them and if he did then it was the computer guy's fault. Edison seems to have grown up a lot in the past year and a half and let's hope he gets more opportunities and same goes for Gillian, Cecilia and the rest.

[Guest pinkylily.]

i watched all three parts, and he seems so sophisticated and mature now. and like he said "he was a teenager back then" careless-ness is a must with teenagers.

the interview seriously cleared a lot of things up, i hope all of hong kong can begin to forgive him --- which will probably happen extremley slowly.

is it only me or do a lot of his american fans can care less about his scandal? because i know im one of them. he never seemed like one of those 'good boys' anyways, but i still like him, loll~

[Guest Loveee]

I still don't understand why Edison is still the main blame for this whole controversy. The celebrity girls were in it too, they knew what was happening. They knew that they were being photographed, it was out of their stupidity to let it happen and when it got to the public all they can do is cry and place the blame on him. What a shame.

[Guest cerulean.skies]

All I can say is that the main person to be blamed is the person who leaked the photos. It's just such a major violation of privacy in its most intimate form, as well as crude disregard for the people involved.

[Guest sundae]

I still don't understand why Edison is still the main blame for this whole controversy. The celebrity girls were in it too, they knew what was happening. They knew that they were being photographed, it was out of their stupidity to let it happen and when it got to the public all they can do is cry and place the blame on him. What a shame.

I totally agree. It really wasnt Edisons fault that someone stole the pictures from him. I mean ethically, a computer tech guy isnt suppose to go through your stuff. But i guess privacy doesnt exist anywhere in the world. The girls only have themselves to blame because its not like they were drunk taking the pictures. LAME. society needs to get over it. So what if he's a playboy? he's been that since day one he came out. PEOPLE KNEW THAT....but the girls still chose to be with him, the girls still let him take the pictures

[Guest sunnyskys*]

He's still a creep. Who takes so many pictures of their own private parts.

[Guest Swtess]

Poor guy. Not like he's living in that much of a glamorous life now. Too many triads are after him

[Guest manlytoe]

so, i just finished watching the whole thing.

i had no clue he could speak such good english.

and i really hope that all of that was true.

poor guy. i didn't think that death treats were necessary.

[Guest jenjen1027]

Why does everyone forget that he shouldn't have had 1000s of naked photos of past flings and girlfriends in the first place? I mean how disrespectful is that to his present girlfriend. This is different from having porn on his computer, he was actually with these people, they weren't his fantasies. He should be sorry, if not to the public, but to his present girlfriend.

Not to mention, he claims he deleted the pictures but how would the computer guy know to search for these "deleted" pictures if he didn't know they existed in the first place when he got the order to fix the computer. I bet he just put them in the Recycling bin and didn't permanently delete them. If that's true then it is his fault for not properly handling them. I mean if he had these pictures on his cell and he lost it then people would blame him for being careless. Not properly storing them is the same thing.

Still, this whole thing has been blown out of proportion. What they did in the bedroom is pretty common and none of the public's business. It's just very unfortunate that they're all public figures so the public think they have the right to judge.

[Guest CitrusFlower]

I still don't understand why Edison is still the main blame for this whole controversy. The celebrity girls were in it too, they knew what was happening. They knew that they were being photographed, it was out of their stupidity to let it happen and when it got to the public all they can do is cry and place the blame on him. What a shame.

People are more willing to forgive the girls and mainly because they played the victim and since he was the main man all the blame goes to him even though they were equally to be blame

[Guest talksound]

i had no clue he could speak such good english.

he's from canada or something.

it sounds like, to me, the interviewer has her own opinions about the whole thing. her tone during some of the questions were like... hmph.

i think i believe him though.

hopefully every GETS OVER IT ALREADY.

[Guest *frutti]

After watching this, I think I've gained a newfound respect for Edison (he better not be putting up a front >__>). To me, the public's reaction to the pictures has been an overreaction but I guess it's just Asia being conservative and all...still, it's like, people have sex.....Edison committed no crime. I pray for his safety and recovery...

[Guest steph*funny]

I agree with most of the previous posters, I wasn't expecting this level of maturity from him...I always thought he was kind of a joke (no offense to his fans or anything, haha.) I hope what he said was true...I still think he's mostly to blame, but the death threats are completely unnecessary. It's sad that he gets all the crap from everyone while the other girls just play victim.

[Guest justlovely12]

Why does everyone forget that he shouldn't have had 1000s of naked photos of past flings and girlfriends in the first place? I mean how disrespectful is that to his present girlfriend. This is different from having porn on his computer, he was actually with these people, they weren't his fantasies. He should be sorry, if not to the public, but to his present girlfriend.

Not to mention, he claims he deleted the pictures but how would the computer guy know to search for these "deleted" pictures if he didn't know they existed in the first place when he got the order to fix the computer. I bet he just put them in the Recycling bin and didn't permanently delete them. If that's true then it is his fault for not properly handling them. I mean if he had these pictures on his cell and he lost it then people would blame him for being careless. Not properly storing them is the same thing.

Still, this whole thing has been blown out of proportion. What they did in the bedroom is pretty common and none of the public's business. It's just very unfortunate that they're all public figures so the public think they have the right to judge.

his girlfriend stuck with him through the whole thing, so i dont think she's blaming him? besides he said that he talked about the photos with her before so it's not like she was in the dark about it.

and about the computer thing, that actually happened to my dad once. he accidentally permenantly deleted a bunch of files, and he went online and downloaded a tool that could recover those files, so what edison said really could have happened.

anyway i hope that the media can forget about the scandal and move on, and like other ppl have said i dont understand why he was the only one that was blamed for the whole thing. i believe what he said and i hope that it was true.. it would really be disappointing if he was only saying those things to resurrect his career.

[Guest 0oyokisuo0]

^ seriously. it is unfortunate that he is getting so much crap for this, i dont think he deserves it.

He's still a creep. Who takes so many pictures of their own private parts.

oh...a lot of people...you'll be surprised.

[Guest StephysCooLBeans]

these are probably the most honest things he's said since the scandal and honestly, i believe him. i never really blamed him because it's not like anyone would want this to happen. it's about time he's grown up, and i think he's handling it quite well now. i'm actually looking forward to some sort of comeback in his career.

[Guest NEYUGN93]

I still don't understand why Edison is still the main blame for this whole controversy. The celebrity girls were in it too, they knew what was happening. They knew that they were being photographed, it was out of their stupidity to let it happen and when it got to the public all they can do is cry and place the blame on him. What a shame.

100% agree with you.

People really need to stop blaming this whole situation on him. He's not the only one part of this.

Wow.. I'm actually saying this considering I always hated the guy, wayy before the scandal took place.

[kissez*]

He's starting to look a lot like Andy Lau - am I the only one who thinks this?

I like his interview though. He was really squirming in his seat but he manned up and owned up to his mistakes.

[Guest mai_ichihara]

Why does everyone forget that he shouldn't have had 1000s of naked photos of past flings and girlfriends in the first place? I mean how disrespectful is that to his present girlfriend. This is different from having porn on his computer, he was actually with these people, they weren't his fantasies. He should be sorry, if not to the public, but to his present girlfriend.

Not to mention, he claims he deleted the pictures but how would the computer guy know to search for these "deleted" pictures if he didn't know they existed in the first place when he got the order to fix the computer. I bet he just put them in the Recycling bin and didn't permanently delete them. If that's true then it is his fault for not properly handling them. I mean if he had these pictures on his cell and he lost it then people would blame him for being careless. Not properly storing them is the same thing.

Still, this whole thing has been blown out of proportion. What they did in the bedroom is pretty common and none of the public's business. It's just very unfortunate that they're all public figures so the public think they have the right to judge.

^anything that you delete from your computer can be retrieved. every single activity you do on your computer since day 1 gets stored.