PUBLISHED ONJune 22, 2023 11:13 AMByYeo Shu HuiLocal actor-comedian Mark Lee, who is good friends with Nono, has contacted the latter after news broke yesterday (June 21) that the Taiwanese host allegedly sexually assaulted at least 20 women over the past 10 years.
Mark has maintained a close friendship with Nono after they worked together in various projects, including Jack Neo's movie Being Human in 2010.
When Mark, 54, was nominated for the Golden Horse best actor award in 2020 and was in quarantine at a hotel in Taipei, Nono turned up at the ground floor of the hotel, bringing food for Mark and even praying for his win.
Speaking to the Chinese daily about Nono's recent allegations this morning, Mark said: "I felt very sad and very worried."
He added that he was very surprised when the news broke and hoped that Nono, 52, can face the situation head on.
"No matter what, the matter has already happened. Whatever he has done in the first place, he should know that it will become a worry eventually. Since it has already come to this point, he should prepare to face it and not let his family and the victims down," said Mark.
Mark also hopes that Nono and his family can overcome difficulties together and the matter can pass quickly.
In Mark's radio show this morning, he also spoke about Nono when a listener left a message requesting for him to comment on Nono's scandal.
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He said that he contacted Nono once the news broke: "I told him, you must really handle this properly, if it is not real, then let time speak for itself. If it is real, then you should face it head on, because that is what you should do."
Yesterday, internet celebrity Anissa (also known as Little Red Teacher) conducted a press conference in Taipei, revealing 20 other victims who claimed they were sexually abused by Nono, with about three accusing him of penetrative rape and one who was underage when the incident happened.
After the press conference, Nono announced on his Facebook page that he will go on hiatus to "reflect deeply".
Anissa made another Facebook post this afternoon, claiming that another alleged victim had contacted her at 4am today to tell her that Nono flirted with her on Facebook on Nov 14, 2011, when the latter had already proposed to his now wife, singer Angel Chu, earlier on Nov 3, 2011.
She also posted screenshots that the alleged victim had sent to her:
In the screenshots, Nono first praised the victim was "very cute" and asked her where she worked. He also told her that he wanted to know when she was free so that he could ask her out. When the woman said that she did not live in Taipei, Nono allegedly told her that he could fetch her and asked for her phone number.
Based on Taiwanese media reports, since the news of Nono's sexual assault allegations were released, netizens have been flooding the comment sections of his Instagram page, demanding he conduct a press conference to apologise. As such, Nono deleted his Instagram account today.
yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com
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