Ali Lee Hits Hard Times
Even though Ali Lee (李佳芯) was heavily promoted after joining TVB, and she even took home the TV Queen crown with her performance in Who Wants a Baby <BB來了> last year, her career came to a halt after a political comment she made. She has no job offers since Mainland China banned her, TVB froze her, and her advertisements were rescinded. As a result, she already said she plans to enroll in an acting course to improve herself and learn drawing to pass time. She also plans to go on a short trip with her boyfriend of five years, ViuTV host Danny Chan (陳炳銓). However, it was recently rumored that his company fired him. With bleak outlooks, the couple is watching their spending carefully!
Ali Looked Anxious and Unhappy
A few days ago, the lovebirds took their dog out for a car ride at 2 p.m. to a mall near their Tseung Kwan O love nest. They left their dog in the car with a few windows opened for ventilation while they went to eat, and the two waited until the afternoon tea discount period before entering the restaurant.
At the time, there were many diners, so Ali chose to sit in a more conspicuous spot. They ordered a few dim sum dishes, and Ali kept busy on her phone while waiting for the food to come. They ate quickly and left after less than an hour to tend to their dog.
Afterward, the couple walked their dog at a nearby park but Ali had on a sour face the whole time. Danny tried cheering her up by pulling Ali in to play catch with their pet. Luckily, Ali’s mood improved slightly and she flashed a slight smile.
Ali Talked Angrily on the Phone
A few days later, the couple went out again. In order to save gas money, they dined at a restaurant in their neighborhood. She angrily talked on the phone for 20 minutes after she sat down, but she was conscious of being recognized. Once they finished eating, they rushed back home.
When reporters reached out to the couple about Danny’s termination, Ali replied, “I did not hear anything about that, I’m not sure, I’ll let him respond.”
Danny said, ‘I’m okay, I did not hear about that. I have work, it’s just entertainment news!”
Source: Oncc
This article is written by MelodyC for JayneStars.com.
havent seen any ads/sponsors on her instagram ever since she made that post encouraging people to vote. Dont understand how a simple message encouraging others to exercise their right means she’s “anti-china” or whatever label created
china is just proving itself to be a huge totalitarian as*hole. freedom of speech is nonexistent
@jintianxiayue
Welcome to a the socialist world.
@jintianxiayue
Freedom of speech does not permit you to say what you want without consequences. Ali had the freedom to say what she wanted to, then she did, now she’s suffering the repercussions.
That’s no different in the west. You’re naive if you think freedom of speech exists without repercussions.
Here’s a fine example of your “freedom of speech” in the west: https://www.rt.com/usa/472660-epstein-abc-coverup-exposed-veritas/
@anon yes no matter what we all need to watch what we say.
@jintianxiayue Um, isn’t this consumer backlash? It’s not the government doing anything to her, its the consumer.
Feel a bit bad for her, but at the same time, if she wanted to thrive in that industry, then she should have known better. Why break your own rice bowl so to speak by sharing an unnecessary comment? If she felt compelled to still share her thoughts, then she should have understood the potential consequences of her actions. Guess she just didn’t know how to play the game properly.
And as mentioned, freedom of speech means she could say what she wants without being arrested. It does not mean you can say whatever you want without criticism or backlash.
@theyenman We dont know if govt has anything to do with this. But the situation with the missing HK booksellers shows that the govt has an impact. However, Ali still has a lot of fans.
@luye
The US government has a lot of impact too if they want an individual or group dead or arrested without a judicial process, but never a word of condemnation from western mainstream media.
It really makes you wonder who controls the western media.
Remember Osama Bin Laden? Obama ordered a HIT SQUAD. The Navy Seal team shot him right in the head the moment they broke into his room where he was hiding. Osama did not resist. There was no arrest. No judicial process. They just wanted him dead.
Freedom.
Democracy.
Guatanamo Bay…. Where SUSPECTED terrorists are illegally detained for years, up to a decade without a judicial process.
Freedom.
Democracy.
Yet the US has the audacity to talk about China’s re-education camps where they have successfully reduced Islamic radicalization over the years in that region?
The US is a joke. They have no right to talk about freedom and democracy when they don’t even stand by what they preach.
As Obama likes to coin it, this is ‘American exceptionalism”.
I coin it US hypocrisy.
@jintianxiayue tbh Chinese citizens would’ve got her de-facto blacklisted without the government. Plenty of celebs in the US have been de-facto blacklisted from the industry, and colin Kaepernick was also blacklisted from the NFL as Allen Iverson was from the NBA
people say you know who’s controlling you when you can’t say anything bad about them. our world is slowly taken over a dark force of power in disguise
@m0m0 what dark forces? How is this different from an entertainer in the west facing backlash for uttering a racist or sexist comment? The entertainment industry is supported by fan support. Once a company decides you aren’t marketable to them, they cut ties with you. If anything, this is pretty much the definition of a capitalistic society.
@theyenman nothing Ali said was racist or sexist. Eastern & western entertainment industries have different cultures. Some can get away with some things in the west, but if the same thing happened in the east, it’s extremely unacceptable. For ex, the “cash me outside” girl on Dr. Phil got famous off of her rude behavior and now she’s a rapper making $.
@luye
Ali made a political statement that some Chinese and Hong Kongers didn’t like so she got canned.
The same fate can be suffered by a Hollywood celebrity (in her prime) if she is a vocal supporter of Trump. The left-leaning mainstream media will mock her, production companies will stop cooperating with her and the mainstream audience will not support her AKA. canned.
Same thing.
@anon unfortunately, there are a lot of companies out there who endorse trump
@luye Whether the comments were racist, sexist, or not is irrelevant. What matters is how it is interpreted by the consumer and whether it has potential to negatively impact business.
Look at it this way. Why do businesses hire celebrities? To market their products. If a business feels the celebrity will negatively affect their sales or if there’s no perceived positives in keeping that spokesperson, why would a business continue to hire them?
What Ali did was stupid from an economic standpoint because she effectively killed her own career, over a trivial comment that she totally could have avoided and it was easy to see from everyone why it would. Notice how the majority of other artists have kept quiet? It’s because they still want to make money in China.
What she should do is just double down and go full pro protesters, like Denise Ho. Now that’s a smart girl. She knew she was screwed making any money from China, so she took advantage and just sided with the protesters to make money that way.
@theyenman
Ali thought she was clever and was going to be praised for her comments but it backfired spectacularly. Career suicide…
@theyenman she’s definitely dealing with the consequences of her words. Maybe she knew she would lose money by speaking up, but decided to stand for what she believed in anyway.
I’m not sure which trivial comment youre referring to because I only saw the post where she encouraged people to vote. Maybe I missed it?
I noticed that during the protests, people commented on artists’ page asking them to speak up and not be silent. I think sometimes artists feel like they have a responsibility to speak up because they have a fanbase, so therefore they have an influence.
@theyenman
The dark forces meaning the things that control people which people don’t even realize and think they r acting on their free will. If u think about what she said, it is simply telling people to exercise their right. Lefties r interpreting this as an anti China statement which shows how extreme these people r that executing a right under democracy is against their own govt.
@m0m0 Again, money talks, that’s what’s ultimately driving the sponsorship decisions. These companies want to cater to the 1.3B Chinese market, simple as that. Rather than deal with potential boycotts of their products, they simply decide to choose another spokesperson among the plethora of choices available.
If I was a business that has to sell to the Chinese market, I’d cut ties with her too. Nothing personal, just companies doing what’s best for their business.
And this is why artists should really keep political opinions to themselves, or risk facing consequences. If they are OK with the potential risks of losing jobs and sponsorships, then for sure they should speak out if that’s what they feel is right. But again, that’s not how the entertainment or business world works, and if you want to continue maximizing your earning potential in it, then you gotta learn to play the game. That’s the reality.
i can’t comment on whether she was being frugal b/c of her current status since there is nothing to compare w/. it would make a definitive point had they compared her life before and after. who knows, she could have lived a thrifty life even before. like louis koo taking economy class
@m0m0 the richest people I know are the thriftiest- the director of my hospital brings her own lunch everyday and wear handmade looking bags, dress very casually and she makes over 300k usd a year- while a secretary who makes less than me have couple of lv bags.
” I didnt get rich signing checks”- some rich person
@nleung12345
Oh I know, only people who r well off but not rich want to flaunt their wealth. Real rich people spend money on education like sending their kids to private schools from preschool and classes like horseback riding, fencing, or golf. There’s a term for those people, country bumpkins.
I don’t agree with this frugal living crap. Ali would have accumulated a decent fortune in the last few years to live comfortably