Explicit clips of over 20 Hong Kong and Taiwan actors, models, basketball players leaked online

It's not uncommon for celebrities to have their explicit photos leaked online — just look back to the 2014 Hollywood nude photo hack attack.

Without the victims' consent, the leaks are undeniably a violation of privacy, although some might have been accidental – like Captain America star Chris Evans' slip of the thumb.

More recently, sexually explicit videos and photos of over 20 Hong Kong and Taiwanese men, including actors Terrance Lau and Andy Bian, models, as well as basketball players have been leaked online, reported Apple Daily.

Taiwanese police arrested two suspects in relation to the case on Dec 19 – a 32-year-old Hong Kong man surnamed Yu and a 39-year-old man surnamed Liu. The former sold the videos online while the latter is suspected of blackmailing the sport stars.

More than 60 videos were seized from the hard drive on Yu's computer. Yu had also allegedly set up a website which included explicit content from victims from China, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand.

The videos reportedly show some of the victims masturbating while chatting with women online and participating in other sexual acts. Several of the videos involving the basketball stars were allegedly filmed a couple of years ago when they were still in high school, Taiwanese media outlets said. 

Both Yu and Liu were charged for violation of privacy and extortion, local authorities said. 

Yu's website reportedly noted the name, physical appearance and characteristics of each victim. Some of the more popular celebrities also had their social media information included, along with news reports featuring them.

Terrance, who was nominated for Best Newcomer at this year's Golden Horse Awards, was reportedly shown smiling, biting on his tongue and licking his lips in some of the leaked pictures. He was also apparently shown taking off his pants and flashing his underwear, Apple Daily said.  

Responding to the matter, the 32-year-old told reporters: "I have never taken any explicit photos such as those that are said to be circulating on the internet."

Some of the "indecent photos" circulating of him were taken back in his school days, as a prank among him and his classmates, he explained. 

"It is not clear why these so-called indecent photos are circulating but please rest assured. I hope everyone will not be deceived by these online reports," he said.

On the other hand, Andy, whose 13-minute masturbation clip leaked in August, admitted he had fallen victim to online predators as he was "too silly and innocent".  

He was "very careless" when making friends online and was deceived by them, the 29-year-old said. 

trining@asiaone.com