PUBLISHED ONAugust 21, 2023 9:55 AMByYeo Shu HuiThe late Coco Lee's mentees on Sing! China showed their support for her in separate Weibo posts yesterday (Aug 20) after an audio file of her crying about how she was mistreated and humiliated during its production last year was leaked on Aug 17.
Wang Zepeng, who made it to the competition finals, explained his side of the story in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo that he only met Coco once for rehearsals before the final filming.
It seems that it wasn't Coco who couldn't make it to the other rehearsals — she and her team were simply not informed about them.
Zepeng also revealed his private messages with Coco from Oct 10 to 16 last year in a 17-minute video accompanying his post.
He revealed that when he turned up on the set for rehearsals, his handphone would be confiscated, which resulted in him missing the messages from Coco.
He added: "Coco told me that she did not receive any notice for rehearsals. I completed the rehearsals alone that day and was told about where I would stand on stage."
It was also in these missed messages that Coco spoke about her request to change his stage positions — she wanted him to stand beside her on the day of the filming.
Coco had written in her message: "I can't stand straight on my legs now, I can't stand steadily now and I have to wear seven-inch heels, so I need to have support from you."
In the leaked audio clip, Coco said she bore the pain in her legs during filming and it felt like she had "hypothermia", where she felt so cold that she was numb.
Zepeng shared in his post: "The production staff did not tell me about the requested change so I followed the original plan and I had my back facing Coco the whole time."
He also confirmed earlier rumours that Coco fell on stage during the performance and she sat on the stage to sing the final part of the song.
"It was only after the song ended and I turned around that I saw Coco sitting on the ground. I helped her up together with Haman Hu (the host) and supported her to complete the final speech. Thereafter, Coco's team and I supported her back to her seat," he wrote.
There is also a video circulating on Weibo, allegedly of Coco being supported by her staff to her car from the hotel after she fell during the performance.
Over the next two days, Zepeng sent multiple messages to Coco, apologising to her, hoping that she was well and tried to explain his side of the story, but she did not reply.
In one of his messages, he said that he didn't know about the new stage positions that she had proposed.
He said: "When your team asked me whether anyone told me to support you, I was actually in a state of confusion.
"I thought that it was because I didn't support you all the way to your seat after the performance that resulted in the quarrel… I only understand now that they were not talking about the same thing."
Coco replied to Zepeng on Oct 16, telling him that it was okay and encouraged him instead, saying that he "sang perfectly".
In part of her messages to Zepeng, she added: "I said on the spot, 'Director, you hate me, you sabotaged me, this is too much, this is really too much, you shouldn't have promised me and if you promised me, don't treat me like this.'
"Anyway, now we know that in this world we will meet some very bad people, those who are evil. I also understand that you are under the contract with Shanghai CanXing Culture and Media, so no matter what they say, you have to listen. Young man, what is most important to you now are chances, I understand. It's okay, anyway it was a learning experience."
Another of Coco's mentees, Zhou Feige, also made a Weibo post yesterday noon. He wrote that he has wondered for the past year whether what happened then between Coco and the production team was because of him.
Feige said: "Without me, if I did not participate in Sing! China, would it be possible then that Coco would be able to complete filming smoothly and not have all these things happening later? I am sorry, Coco."
Accompanying his post were two screenshots of the private messages that were exchanged between Coco and him. Coco told him that she "completely treated the two of them like [her] own kids" and felt responsible to help them fulfil their dreams because she was once "a little girl chasing [her] own dreams".
According to American news magazine Time, after the news of Coco's mistreatment broke last Friday, Sing! China's parent company Star CM Holdings Ltd saw its stocks plummeting by 23 per cent, the most since it was listed in December last year.
Zhejiang Media Group, which broadcasted the variety show on its channel Zhejiang Television, also made an announcement on their website last night, acknowledging Coco as someone that everyone "should always remember" and wrote that they will look into the matter.
It added: "We are aware that Sing! China has repeatedly met with problems and does not meet the expectations of our audience. Zhejiang Television is responsible and obliged to strengthen the supervision of the programme.
"At the same time, the production company Shanghai CanXing Culture and Media Co. Ltd. will attentively listen to everyone's opinions and maintain fairness and justice during production so that every participant is respected."
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