Donnie Yen Denies Being a Heartless Father
Donnie Yen (甄子丹) has been dubbed as a heartless father who ignored ex-wife Jowan Leung’s (梁静慈) pleading cries to visit their 18-year-old son Jeff Yen (甄文焯) during his hospitalization. Donnie denied the news and said that his relationship with his eldest son is very positive and they often keep in touch with each other.
In 1992, Donnie and Jowan got married in the United States. Their marriage failed within a year, in which Jeff was conceived. Donnie and Jowan subsequently entered a court battle to obtain custody over Jeff, and it was leaked that the ex-couple divorced because Donnie had become involved with Joey Meng (萬綺雯). In 2003, Donnie married beauty queen Cecilia Wang (汪詩詩) and had two children.
It was reported that Jeff was recently hospitalized for pneumothorax and reportedly had to undergo lung operation. Jowan made numerous calls and cried on the phone, asking Donnie to visit the hospital. Although Jeff was in the hospital for one week, Donnie did not pay him a visit, as he was too busy with work. When news about this broke out, it sparked criticism from the public, with some netizens labeling Donnie a “heartless father”.
In contrast, it was noted that Donnie was extremely anxious about his son from his second marriage, James Yen (甄济嘉), when he fell sick. Donnie even carried James in his arms to rush him to the doctor for an examination.
At the Mercedes Benz and Bazaar Men Style event yesterday, Donnie clarified that his relationship with Jeff is very good. Doctors had assured Donnie that Jeff’s condition was not serious, so Donnie ended up not visiting Jeff at the hospital due to work commitments in Beijing. But Donnie remained in constant contact with Jeff since he fell ill, and often called and sent him text messages.
Donnie’s current wife, Cecilia Wang, claimed that tabloids have twisted the truth. “Donnie and Jeff’s relationship is very good and they often keep in touch. Donnie takes care of Jeff. I don’t know why the published report made such claims; it’s not the truth.” She added, “Jeff has already left the hospital and he has recovered well.”
Source: hunantv.com
This article is written by Karen for JayneStars.com.
Feel for his son. I had a pneumothorax (or collapsed lung) and it was one (and still) one of the most painful experiences of my life.
Were you in an accident?
Nope, it just naturally happens to guys who are tall and skinny from their teens onwards. I would not wish this on anybody. Super painful and the recovery is no cake walk either.
To all the parents out there: if you have a kid who’s 6’1 and over, you better make sure he starts eating.
well, i hope you are well. was this recently?
it was two months ago. i feel better after the surgery. not sure what donnie is talking about, it is pretty serious. i’m not allowed to lift heavy anymore and i’ve been advised to not play contact sports. no smoking, no diving and going on a plane gives you a 1/3 chance of another collapse.
your lung collapses – you can’t breathe and your chest feels tight. you can’t lie down or even walk without being in extreme pain. i’m guessing if he was in the hospital for a week, then he had the same procedure i did where the chest tube wasn’t enough and he needed surgery to glue his lungs back to his ribs/chest wall.
based,
I hope you are recovering well after your lung surgery. Take care!
@based,
Sorry to hear about your incident and really hope that you are fully recovered now. Did it just happen?? Glad to hear that you are ok now. Take care and best wishes!
feel bad for you! actually it sounds serious and painful! why does donnie and his current wife make it sound like a small matter? now i’m doubting him this can be only pr to save his face
oh! that sounds (and I’m sure feels) very painful. hope you have a speedy recovery
@based, glad to know you’re now ok. Sounds very serious and so different from what Donnie and his wife is claiming. No wonder his ex-wife is so worried. Anyway, I googled and found this http://hittt.blogspot.com/2013/10/m1_4222.html
Anyone care to translate what the article says?
Take care.
Thanks to everybody here for all the well wishes. Appreciate it.
Hope you are recovering well. Take care.
Damn tabloids…
I am not surprised. He seems to love to flaunt his current wife and kids a lot giving the impression of the perfect husband and doting father but hardly heard him even mention this son Jeff until this recent news came out. Most of the celebs like him, Gallen seem to flaunt latest trophy wife but ignore the kids from the previous marriage. So sad for the son
agree. donnie give the impression of another species of gallen lo, only difference is donnie is a bad actor with wooden face.
I second that. I think wooden partly coz too much Botox and double eye lid surgery. At least Gallen can act
I would like you to say that to his face.
You have hardly heard him mentioning Jeff until now… Yes, that you’re aware of. Maybe it’s meant to be kept private for personal reasons. It’s not anyone’s business but theirs. This also don’t mean Yen cares less of his son more than he cares about his other kids. Let’s not make shallow conclusions here and take cheap shots at Yen for nothing.
So, who made up the part where the ex-wife screams on the phone looking for Donnie yen while at the hospital?
So, who made up the part where the ex-wife screams on the phone looking for Donnie yen while at the hospital? So immature…
If you check the link I posted above, you can see the pictures (purportedly of his ex-wife and son). Too bad I can’t read Chinese. But just looking at those pictures you can feel the mother’s worries and suffering due to her son’s condition.
If this is true, then Donnie does not deserve any respect as a parent. He may have divorced his first wife, but Jeff is still his son. Sending text messages instead of making the effort to visit him even once when he is in hospital is really too much.
What’s the difference of paying a visit AND constantly keeping in touch through phone calls/SMS (source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/entertainment/donnie-yen-denies-he-is-a/873352.html)? What matters here is the communication between father and son, regardless. You guys are overacting too much lol.
Are all this even true?
There is always favouritism. I hope he at least paid the medical bills in full.
Poor Joey, so many years and now dragged into this.
Yes poor Joey
A lesson to women (and men?) not to be the third-party to a relationship. Your sins will come back to haunt you. It’s okay if you step in after the relationship has broken down ie the couple has split, but you should not be the catalyst that triggers the breakdown.
So all in all, Donnie didn’t pay Jeff a visit. That is heartless! I’m a parent, I don’t care if I’m meeting the President across the globe, if my child is in the hospital, it must be something serious enough, and for a whole week? OMG! What a bunch of BS. Doctors are humans; they make mistakes in their diagnoses and procedures all the time. What if Jeff had died in during surgery because something unpredictable went wrong? Or couldn’t Donnie show Jeff love and support before the surgery? Lift his spirits? Gosh, what a bad father towards Jeff. I hate guys like Donnie who only love the new kids but have forgotten about the old ones. Thank God, the Mother has custody of the child or else, can you imagine how more neglected he’ll be with Donnie and his new family??
@Joo, my sentiments, exactly. His own flesh and blood (unless he doubts the paternity of the child). Even though he may not be close to Jeff as his ex-wife has custody, he should still make the effort to see him. It’s not as if he couldn’t afford the airticket (wherever he is) or take a few days off to visit his son in hospital. He can call the shots so he should not give excuses.
So it’s suddenly appropriate to point out failures in the medical/health profession just to make up excuses to bring a point of someone being “wrong” for keeping up with deadlines? Let’s put it this way: Yen is an A-list celebrity in China so just imagine what he has to go through in his profession daily. Movie-making (collaborating with a , keeping up with time schedules, meetings with studio execs here and there, being booked for events, doing commercials etc. Showbiz is more complicated than you think.
Besides, doctors are always researching ways to improve their methods so that mistakes won’t happen on a regular basis. That’s why the article mentions the doctors ASSURING Donnie that his son was doing good and that his condition was not critical. Moral of the story is that if Jeff’s condition WAS critical, Donnie would’ve gone to visit him. Now the difference.
Think what you want, in the end, Donnie rather so called “keep up” with his deadlines than pay his son a visit. His son was in the hospital for a whole week. Sure, showbiz is complicated, but don’t use that as an excuse to neglect your child either. I’m sure, if this incident had been one of Donnie’s new kids, he would be there the whole entire week giving support.
I’m not pointing out failures or flaws of the medical field just to make a point. My husband is a doctor; I know what assurance means, assurance is based on percentages that can change if something were to go wrong.
I’m guessing, you didn’t even read Based’s story up there did you?! He had the same thing, it was critical. Unless Donnie’s and your definition of critical means, he only has just a few hours left to live??! If that was the case, then what’s the point of Donnie being there?! That’s all I have to say.
No one said anything about neglecting your own child but YOU so don’t put words in my mouth. You’re only taking the nasty side/claims into consideration rather than looking at other aspects of the whole thing. I already said this and I’ll say it again: Donnie kept constant communication with Jeff calling and SMS:ing him at the hospital WHILE working in Beijing. Now, is that really that bad to you? At least Donnie showed his concern and support by maintaining their communication, which is the least you can do if you’re not present (a basic relation thing you should know about). From what I’ve read about Donnie and Jeff’s relationship they are pretty tight (Donnie paid for Jeff’s upbringing and education as he grew up and recently bought a house for him and his ex-wife) so I’m sure Donnie would’ve visited him if it was truly critical.
Yeah I read it. Based is all right to express himself as his situation is similar in that he had the same disease. But like you said, his condition was critical while Jeff’s wasn’t so it’s pointless even comparing their situations to one another. Again, learn how to differentiate things before commenting.
It’s okay, Dook, you have your opinions, I have mine. LOL
These matters aren’t about opinions but logic. But yeah, it’s OK for me but not for you since you’ve exposed yourself for lacking sense lol 😉
Haha, they’re opinions dear. Funny, how someone with so much logic like you can’t accept the fact that people think differently and just because they do doesn’t make their points any less valid than yours. Yes, I understand you’re an avid fan, but seriously, there’s no need for these mini attacks. I’ve already tried to end things nicely with you but here you go with your know it all attitude, which is amusing to me. Funny, how someone with just mere opinions like me, which seem to lack logic in your tall tales has someone agreeing with my comments. Haha. Don’t take this too personally la. LOL
@Joo, well each person is entitled to their opinions and my opinion is the same as yours. Maybe because we place more importance on our loved ones’ well-being than material things. Those who have different priorities will never understand because they have their own set of logic and there is no point in arguing with them.
There’s nothing wrong with routine keeping in touch via sms/text msgs but when your loved one is hospitalised, it’s a different matter altogether. Will your doctor hospitalise you if your condition is not serious? As Joo mentioned, doctors are humans too. Sometimes, even a simple surgery or mild disease could end up in the death of a patient.
Like Joo, I’d prefer to see for myself to reassure that my child is really safe while others can just take another’s word for it that everything is well (after all, there are professional doctors, they’re working hard to earn money, bla..bla…bla… ).
Like I said, if Donnie’s a struggling actor or some average working joe who has to work to make ends meet, it’s understandable that he can’t visit his sick child who’s hospitalised. But he’s a successful actor and no one will blame him if he take some time off to visit his own flesh and blood. He’s not going off to play around so one will blame him for not being professional.
Maybe some people have been brought up in such an environment that their parents are too busy to personally take care of them when they’re sick, so naturally they’re used to it and feel there’s nothing wrong with it.
So, there’s really no right or wrong – just what is your priority. If you can live with it, you don’t need to explain with logic or try to justify with reasons and excuses.
This matter may be opinionated but that still doesn’t give you the right to bash someone for being “heartless”. Donnie maintained constant contact despite not being present, it’s better than not caring about Jeff at all. And you guys make such a big deal out of it.
So it’s suddenly appropriate to point out failures in the medical/health profession just to make up excuses to bring a point of someone being “wrong” for keeping up with deadlines? Let’s put it this way: Yen is an A-list celebrity in China so just imagine what he has to go through in his profession daily. Movie-making (collaborating with a big union), keeping up with time schedules, meetings with studio execs here and there, being booked for events, doing commercials etc. Showbiz is more complicated than you think.
Besides, doctors are always researching ways to improve their methods so that mistakes won’t happen on a regular basis. That’s why the article mentions the doctors ASSURING Donnie that his son was doing good and that his condition was not critical. Moral of the story is that if Jeff’s condition WAS critical, Donnie would’ve gone to visit him. Now the difference.
Wonder if he will behave the same way if it’s his kids from this current marriage in that condition.
Exactly my thought! Doubt so since he was so geared up to prepare even his wedding anniversary so he will definitely pay more attention to current wife’s kids
Yen may have the other kids to look out for while Jeff is in Jowan’s custody and responsibility (after all, she got what she wanted). But this doesn’t prove anything. Donnie loves Jeff as much as he does his current kids. Otherwise, their communication would’ve been lost immediately after the divorce.
I am sure an A list star will still have time for his kid if it was his current wife’s kid having the same problem. I always believe if there’s a will there is a way and if something is so important to you then you will make the time. For this I have to give it to Andy Lau. He took leave, cancel jobs for his child. At the end of the day it is what matters most to you and obviously Jeff don’t matter so much to him. Remember he always hv so fun time to flaunt anniversary, birthday with his current wife and take family pix with them so if he really want to I am sure he will be able to find the time
Yen doesn’t even have the right to have Jeff in his custody because it was against Jowan’s will when they tried to settle the matter after Jeff was born. The issue was later brought to court where Yen lost the lawsuit and Jowan got what she wanted so it’s her responsibility then and now. But that didn’t keep Yen from holding up his end of the bargain paying for Jeff’s upbringing and education and keeping in touch with him (still doing so). If anything, you should blame Jowan for keeping Jeff away from Yen for most of the time.
Hmm.. DooK, the way you’re defending Donnie you sound like you’re :-
a) a real fan
b) a personal friend
c) you’re in the same scenario i.e. divorced, felt bitter for losing custody of child and work your butt off to make a success out of yourself and now feeling proud you’re paying for child support and education so the ex who got custody deserves to be blamed if everything goes wrong.
Take your pick….. and don’t get worked up. I’m just a nobody who lack common sense and logic with some 2 cents worth of opinion.
That’s the kind of answer I see from people who can’t properly defend themselves in discussions and have to resort to matters being subjective (subjective my foot), accusing someone for being a biased supporter, and placing the accused one in the same scenario as his/her idol just to prove something that has nothing to do with the person at all. Nice try.