Leehom Wang to Pay Back Millions for Breach of Contracts
Married for eight years, Leehom Wang (王力宏) and Lee Jinglei (李靚蕾) always seemed to have the perfect marriage with three beautiful children. Their divorce turned scandalous when Jinglei broke her silence about the reason behind their separation, and accused Leehom of cheating with BY2’s Yumi as well as paying for sex services. The accusations hit Leehom’s image hard, and with his endorsement deals and commercial appearances in China dropped, the singer may face contract violation fees of millions of dollars.
Faces Breach of Contract Violation Fees
In celebrity-backed endorsements, there is usually a breach of contract clause, which covers the contingencies when the artiste commits a criminal act or an action detrimental to his image which may impact brand representation and sales. Aside from the original endorsement fees, the artiste may be held accountable to pay back up to 10 times the amount for breaching the contract.
It is estimated that Leehom is compensated US$1 million for each endorsement deal. If he has to pay 10 times the amount for breach of contract, he may owe US$10 million per deal.
Leehom had four endorsement deals in China this year, including a recently signed deal with Infiniti, in which he made a made stage appearance for the car brand on December 16. The next day, Leehom’s image crashed when his ex-wife Jinglei accused him of cheating in their marriage. Infiniti immediately announced the termination of their collaboration. With a span of only 30 hours from the endorsement to contract termination, Leehom set a record for the fastest termination of an auto brand spokesperson.
Last Public Appearance in Guangzhou
On December 16, Leehom attended an Infiniti car endorsement event in Guangzhou. This was Leehom’s first public appearance since his divorce announcement last week. Although Leehom was seen chatting and laughing heartily with the event host, his dark undereye circles were prominent and he appeared thin and haggardly. Appearing on stage for 11 minutes, Leehom did not once address the rumors surrounding his divorce. Before making his leave, Leehom expressed, “Thank you, everyone. Love you all! Thank you to all media friends as well!”
Avoiding questions about his personal life, Leehom instead redirected the focus to his career and creative outlook. After more than 26 years in the industry, Leehom reflected, “As long as you use your heart and continue to learn, you will recognize the beauty of the Eastern culture and be inspired by it. It has inspired my many years of work. I feel very fortunate that I am a part of such a rich culture. I can draw from a lot of experiences that are touching and rich in emotions.”
Although his public event went smoothly, everything came crashing down the next day when Jinglei exposed the dark secrets of their marriage. Leehom was seen flying back to Taiwan to deal with the crisis immediately.
Financial Earning Power
While the financial ramifications for losing the endorsement deals are extensive, Leehom’s income generating power is also stunning. Earlier, the singer created a music education app and earned US$5.3 million in one semester alone. While his scandal is causing a financial dent, Leehom should have not problem weathering the storm due to the incredible wealth built over his 26-year career.
Source: World Journal [1,2], HK01
This article is written by Huynh for JayneStars.com.
Leehom Wang Announces Withdrawal From Entertainment Industry
His family and himself are such tight a** when it comes to money… I am glad they are lossing them… Such a man is a disgrace.
@Hohliu indeed. Hurt them where it matters most!
Always have the impression that his family sees themselves too high and mighty. It may not true but over the years there has always been rumours how his parents did not like him with who and who because the female was not educated enough. Someone with a good education may turn out like their son.
There r many educated families just like u described out there. Personally know a few
So I have read online that LHW changed his wife name to her current name because there was someone who had the same name with amazing background, went to Princeton then worked for JPmorgan then went to Columbia. His wife only went to Columbia for one year an easily bought major for her degree. No wonder when he introduced her he emphasized her as a student at Columbia. This is just crazy. I can see that a movie or tv series based on his pretentious moral life is already on the making. I don’t think there are a ton of stuff that worse than living a lie. He kinda just created a fake academic background for her so she would be a good match for his and his family’s. This can’t be happening in real life.
I can’t imagine how his ex wife must have felt. So she was not good enough for his family unless she had that certain education background. Oh my!!! What in the world!!!! So then he and his family were looking down on her all these time since she was not smart enough for them???
Come on she married him despite he cheated on her, she’s smart? Why do you guys associate her with smart when hearing she has a degree, and associate her with not smart when she doesn’t? Maybe she felt special! If he went through the trouble of giving her a fake academic background, he could do that for anyone else so they can marry him, but out of everyone he did that for her. Maybe he did wanted to marry her for real after all, she didn’t threaten him. He got what he deserves but we will never know the true story from both sides.
Maybe she didn’t know about his sex life before she married him? I don’t know. I just read online. And the dad said he married her only because she was pregnant. He asked her to get an abortion. But she said she would change her name and disappeared and he could never meet his kid. So she is book- smart but not smart about love I guess. Love is blind. You easily let the flaws of your lover slide when you are in love. But since you are out of love, all the negative stuff are all appeared again. I am like that sometimes. I don’t like it but can’t help it.
Is that confirmed to be true or is it just rumors? Pretty low of him if he really did that.
Don’t know if I’ll believe it but there are some flaws with LJL too. If she was that stress with him, how did she still turn out successful from school? If she already has such a good degree, she can totally work part-time. She is a full-time mother but also has a nanny, with a nanny she should be able to do other productive things on the side.
I feel like it’s just a smear campaign to say she “brought” her education. Whether LJL finished school or not, it doesn’t change the fact that she handled herself with grace and dignity in this whole saga.
From this whole saga, it led me to believe that no matter how educated you are, if you have shallow mindset, it’ll still stay the same no matter what. His parents and he himself are very highly educated but they still act in a very asshole way and lack of empathy toward women.
I feel like it’s just a smear campaign to say she “brought” her education. Whether LJL finished school or not, it doesn’t change the fact that she handled herself with grace and dignity in this whole saga.
From this whole saga, it led me to believe that no matter how educated you are, if you have shallow mindset, it’ll still stay the same no matter what. His parents and he himself are very highly educated but they still act in a very asshole way and lack of empathy toward women.