Edison Chen Still Owes Peter Lam $20 Million

In 2008, Edison Chen (陳冠希) became the male star of one of the most shocking sex scandals to hit Hong Kong. Edison promised to step out of the Hong Kong entertainment scene indefinitely. Many companies such as Pepsi China and Manhattan Titanium also withdrew all his advertisements, causing a huge financial strain for him. Fortunately, Peter Lam (林建岳), CEO of Media Asia Entertainment Group supported Edison and helped him pay off the compensations to the advertising companies. Though five years have gone by and Edison is slowly gaining back his momentum, he does not show any intention to repay Peter or his company.

The Sex Scandal

In January 2008, a person known as Kira revealed photos of Edison and Gillian Chung (鍾欣桐) in bed. Eventually nude photos of Cecilia Cheung (張栢芝), Bobo Chan (陳文媛), Vincy Yeung (楊永晴) and Candice Chan (陳思慧) emerged. In just two weeks, more than 400 graphic photos were circulated online and created an uproar throughout the world. Embarrassed, Edison left for the United States after announcing that he would step out of the Hong Kong entertainment industry indefinitely.

With his reputation at stake, several companies withdrew their advertising contracts with him and demanded that he paid them compensation. Already blacklisted and with no income, Edison was not able to fork out the huge amounts of money. Fortunately, media mogul Peter Lam paid for Edison’s long-term rental at the Four Seasons Hotel and the compensation to the six advertising companies. Peter continued to finance Edison’s multimedia production company, Clot Media Division (CMD).

In November 2011, Edison was the subject of another scandal, this time, with 16-year-old model, Cammi Tse (謝芷蕙). Livid with his philandering lifestyle, Peter decided to stop backing Edison and demanded he repay all the money owed, which amounted to more than 20 million HKD dollars. It has even been reported that Peter has already issued a final notice to Edison to return his money.

No Short of Income

With his repeated sex scandals, few entertainment companies would take the risk and invite Edison back to work. With no income from filming movies or television shows, or even attending large-scale events, Edison is still able to earn a decent living by signing endorsement deals as well as holding mini concerts in bars around China. With his celebrity status, Edison could easily clock up to seven concerts in a month and according to reports, every concert enjoyed a full house. On top of that, his clothing company, Juice has gone global and is making good profits for Edison.

An insider revealed, “Although Edison was not blacklisted in China, no one wanted to be the white mouse so he is not able to get on television studios for shows. But Edison will not die in mainland China. Many bars invited him for shows. The remunerations are not low. He can easily pocket $300,000 HKD just by singing three songs. His schedule now is packed and he often has to travel back and forth.”

Still Living in the Lap of Luxury

Last year, Edison left his Four Seasons residence and moved to an apartment in South Bay where the rental can go as high as $100,000 HKD per month. CLOT’s office was also moved from Causeway Bay to a 5,000 square feet space in Wong Chuk Hang, which is three times larger than the original office space. Rental for the office space will cost Edison $300,000 HKD per month. Although ostracized, Edison is still able to live rather luxuriously. Yet, he does not seem to take any step towards repaying his debt to Peter.

The insider continued, “For the first year or so, Edison completely had no income. At that time he did not report the numbers to the main company. Everyone understood. But these couple of years, he has many more jobs. His income every month is not too bad but he continued to delay. The boss (Peter Lam) had a good impression of him but the company has other shareholders, plus the senior executives have their own opinions and suggested the boss not to give in to him anymore. As a result, the boss has left everything to the administration department to handle.”

Source: Next Magazine #1220 via ihktv.com

This article is written by Karen for JayneStars.com.