Blackie Chen latest Taiwan star to be accused of sexual assault

While some of the men in the latest wave of the #MeToo movement in Taiwan have a bad reputation before the incidents were exposed, some of the accused have a perfect gentleman image.

Earlier today (June 27), Hey Girl's member Tina Chou, more commonly known as Da Ya, posted on Facebook about the sexual assault she endured from her previous boss, whom she called Mr Chen in her post.

Hey Girl was a girl group which hosted the variety show Blackie's Teenage Club with actor-host Blackie Chen, and was active from 2006 to 2013.

Through several pieces of information in Tina's post, especially the one about how Mr Chen's wife is named Fan Fan, it became apparent that the person Tina is accusing is Blackie, 46. He is married to singer Christine Fan, who's nicknamed Fan Fan.

According to the 38-year-old host-actress, she was in the car with Blackie together with four other team members after a shoot in Hong Kong on July 18, 2012, when Blackie made a suggestive remark to her.

In the hotel lift, Blackie pressured her to reveal her room number and soon visited her in her room, claiming he had a message for her. Tina said she reluctantly opened the door for him.

[[nid:635835]]

She said she thought to herself then: "I had to shoot with him the entire day the next day, and take the same car and the same flight. I told myself that I could not fall out with him. He had benched me on the show before during the variety show days, so I knew he could make me jobless anytime."

Tina claimed that even after telling Blackie to leave the room as her make-up artist and best friend were coming over soon, he refused to move. She alleged he then hugged her from the back.

"Due to his strength and build, I was unable to push him away. 'How is it? Aren't I strong,' he asked me. When I said that I preferred skinny guys, he said, 'You haven't tried it! If you try it, you may like it!'"

Tina claimed Blackie was insistent in his harassment. "I told him that I saw him as a brother and it was weird as he is married, but he replied, 'No choice, Fan Fan doesn't like such things!'"

Tina shared her thoughts at that point: "His public image is of one who loves his wife dearly and they look like a perfect couple on screen. How could he say such words! I really wanted to puke…

"What have [his needs] got to do with me? Even if he has needs, he should not do this to other women!"

[[nid:635649]]

Tina claimed she told him then: "Even if you have needs, you shouldn't look for me as I am your employee."

To which Blackie allegedly responded: "But you're attractive!"

Tina claimed Blackie finally left her room but called her subsequently to invite her to his room.

Since that incident, Tina shared that she had run into him and Christine at a restaurant once, and he went up to her to say hi.

Tina wrote: "I wished I could turn myself invisible… I realised that not only did I detest him, but I feared him very, very much."

After her post, Tina also spoke through her agent, saying: "I hope that light can shine into dark corners of the heart… I have spoken up for my past cowardly self. It's not my responsibility to decide how the perpetrator wants to bear responsibility."

Her husband, badminton coach Liao Hsun-wei, expressed: "I feel pain for her and I support her."

[[nid:635391]]

Regarding the above accusations, Blackie has denied all allegations this afternoon and issued a statement through his lawyer.

"In July 2012, the shoots in Hong Kong were all done in groups, and there was never any one-to-one situation. All allegations made by Tina are without evidence and false," Blackie said.

"I absolutely support the #MeToo movement, and encourage victims to speak up for their rights. Both men and women should protect themselves from unfair sexual treatment and it is valuable to do so. But I do not tolerate any attempt to defame me with malicious intent."

Following his statement, Tina declared in another post on Facebook: "The account I gave is the truth. My conscience is clear. Justice is in the hearts of people."

Blackie has been married to Christine since 2011 after a 10-year courtship, and they have eight-year-old twin sons. He is a host, actor, former national basketball player and CEO of Taiwanese professional basketball league P. League+.

ALSO READ: 'You penetrated me while I was sleeping': Aaron Yan accuser holds press conference, star makes surprise appearance to apologise

jolynn.chia@asiaone.com

No part of this story can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.