Maggie Cheung’s Diva Demand Hampers Return to TVB
A frequent target of diva gossips, Maggie Cheung Ho Yee (張可頤) has a slim chance of regaining TVB’s favor.
After the Hong Kong government rejected HKTV’s free-to-air broadcast license last week, many are curious about the future of its actors, particularly those who have publicly spoken against TVB. While TVB has pledged to open its doors to the laid-off employees, the road home may be difficult for some of the more controversial artists.
Although Maggie Cheung was one of the top TVB actresses in the early 2000s, her popularity has slowly declined over the past decade. Her rift with TVB was exposed when she did not attend promotional events for 2012’s The Last Steep Ascent <天梯>. Even though Maggie received positive reviews as the series’ first female lead, she was not nominated for Best Actress at last year’s Anniversary Awards.
According to reports this week, Maggie had apparently demanded a TV Queen title in exchange for contract renewal. TVB turned down the condition as the company already had plans to implement a public voting system. Since TVB intends to create transparency to retain public interest, some believe that the company will hesitate to negotiate with Maggie ever again.
Other HKTV artists are also allegedly blacklisted by TVB for various reasons. Yoyo Mung (蒙嘉慧) may remain unemployed for awhile since she was not very well-received by viewers and is being seen as a liability. Felix Wong’s (黃日華) sharp words against TVB have done nothing but burned bridges. While some believe that Frankie Lam (林文龍) has a higher chance of being accepted by TVB, his outspoken attitude and long-term criticism against Hong Kong’s television industry may have made him an enemy to top executives.
When reached for comment, TVB executive Virginia Lok (樂易玲) revealed little about her company’s views, saying, “TVB has always maintained a positive relationship with its artists… these are simply rumors!”
Source: Oriental Daily
This article is written by Katrine for JayneStars.com.
I hope Yoyo comes back………..then TVB can broadcast Ruse of Engagement.
Yoyo Mung’s acting is like a wood & her pronounciation is never clear… Sorry.
still better than tavia yeung linda cheung charmaine sheh hahah
i never said anything abt her acting lol
yup, youre right, she swallows her words. i don’t find her attractive at all. the only time i liked her was in FH1.
Me too, I really want to see Ruse of Engagement. (:
seriously – it wasn’t like any of these artist wants to go back to TVB
always like her esp her lanky frame
There are many artists in the past that were blacklisted by TVB but in the end, they all came back eventually. TVB is just like any business, there are not any eternal enemies in the business world.
Hi HeTieShou, agree with you. It’s more important if the artists are being well received by viewers. If viewers want them back, TVB will try everyway to entice them back.
Totally agree with you Bloom. If an artist is popular TVB will do everything to get them back.
@HTS, agree with u. If the more popular ones are willing to eat humble pie, TVB will take them back (but definitely at TVB’s terms & conditions).
Yup, but it would depend on who the artist is and how popular they are. If they are popular and are in demand then they can have demands that TVB needs to abide to. For example, when Felix came back for Gun Metal Grey, he wanted around 5 hours of sleep and no night shifts and they had to fulfill his requests if they wanted him to film for them.
@HTS: True…though technically, Felix’s situation back during GMG was different because he was filming with his buddy Michael Miu. It was actually Michael who accommodated Felix’s requests, not TVB. When Michael and Felix interviewed with Carlo Ng on The Green Room a few years back, Michael said that he knew Felix didn’t want to pull all-nighters like they used to do back in the 80s, so he decided to take all the early morning filming time slots so that Felix could have a more ‘relaxed’ filming schedule. Since Michael was the one who persuaded Felix to come back to TVB and film a series with him, he felt it was his duty to make sure Felix was well taken care of.
So yes, TVB would probably make exceptions for certain artists, but with Felix, I doubt they will…and it’s not like Felix needs them either, since he’s enough in demand already that he doesn’t need to be tied down to any TV station in order to survive. Technically, his contract with HKTV was already up too (he had only signed on to film 2 series and both those series were already completed), but he continued to work with them because he liked the direction of the company.
@llwy12,
Thanks for the reminders! I almost forgot that it was Miu who accommodated him,not TVB. It is ok if Felix does not film for TVB again since their series suck lately. I hope he can film for China and other stations.
It will be nice to see these long-time favourite faces on TVB dramas
I feel Yoyo has a highest chance of returning. I don’t recall her ever outright bad mouthing TVB. I still feel the artists who left TVB and felt the need to outright criticize the company are quite stupid. Especially the second and third line artists. They burned their own bridge so I can’t really blame TVB for blacklisting them. I know I wouldn’t rehire an employee who thrashed me after jumping ship.
No employer holds a gun to someone’s head and force that person to stay, renew a contract etc. If an artist feels that he’s going nowhere after a decade then he has all the freedom to change career or go for elsewhere. But it’s you choose to stay despite long hours, unsatisfactory income then i’s your own choice. Blaming and bad mouthing your previous employer is so irresponsible.
Sad but true fact of life….
TVB might let them go back… if they play supporting characters that is!
Yoyo is one of the good looking actress that TVB should have. Sick of Tavia in every series and she isn’t even that good looking. I know plot is more important but sometime you got to put the pretty face in the TV to draw attention. For instance, i would not be interested to see “No Reserve” doesn’t matter how good it could turn out to be because Myolie is less attractive than Sheren and Sheren is like twice her age????
Sheren will kill you for saying she’s 2x myolie’s age. Sheren dob 1966, myolie dob 1979.
Lawd! As if any of these people needs to go back to TVB! They could go to the Mainland TV market where there are multiple companies instead of having to submit to TVB’s monopoly. Maybe they wouldn’t get lead roles, but would TVB give them that after they way they spoke out? Most likely TVB will make them “work for it” first too anyway.
TVB must give good pay to get back these artists because they are talented; TVB can not treat them badly because there will have the contract between them.
Anyway I thought Maggie is rich in her own right.
She is single. She can go Mainland anytime.
No it isnt… actually there are reports saying that she has no money to pay off her house loans.
@ polypeptide,
Even what you said is true, I think Maggie Cheung will not gives a damn to TVB. She will never ask TVB for coming back. She is talented actress and many companies is pursuing her.
I know Maggie Cheung is pretty, but the photograph at the top is not flattering enough 🙁
that was probably a bad shot. she does usually do NOT look that bad and old. haha…LOL…
Maggie just posted a letter to her fans on Weibo. It’s quite a heartfelt account of her feelings at the moment and also response to some of the rumors that have been flying around about her (most of the stuff in the above article). You guys may want to read it….
I like her acting!!!!!!!!!
They will not go back to tvb and they shouldn’t. They have already burned the bridges.. Just let it go and move on and continue loving your HKTV. Can’t wait until this HKTV drama goes away.
I just only hear that TVB used their artists to lure the artists said above coming back to TVB but no one pay attention to those calls.
Does weibo has English translation ?
You should never bad mouth your ex-employer… what goes around comes around… these bad mouthing artists should have thought of this before they opened their mouth.. they have been in the industry/ public eye long enough to know the consequences…
I agree, when you let emotions get in the way, it’ll back fire!
Can anyone translate what her post in Weibo please? thanks
I like Maggie Cheung, I think is a talented actress.
Like her too, wish she had never left TVB in the first place!