TL;DR: What's the supposed feud between Kenneth Ma and Kevin Cheng all about?

Over time and with different priorities in life, you may start seeing friends less and less often.

But when you're in the public eye, it may become amplified.

Hong Kong actor Kevin Cheng recently made a comment that had netizens wondering if there was a feud between the 54-year-old and his co-stars from TVB drama A Fistful of Stances (2010), particularly Kenneth Ma.

Here's a rundown of what happened over the last week.

How did it start?

Kevin and Kenneth, 49, both starred in martial arts costume drama A Fistful of Stances back in 2010 and the cast, including Natalie Tong, Stephen Wong and Jazz Lam, has been pretty tight-knit since.

But in November, Natalie, 42, posted a photo on Instagram of their latest gathering and Kevin was missing from it. This fuelled speculations that he was no longer close to the rest of them.

Netizens also noticed that Kevin had last met up with the gang back in 2021, and was missing from Stephen's wedding last year too.

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Speaking to Hong Kong media HK01 on Nov 30, Kevin said that he may have drifted away from his former castmates due to family commitments. He has three sons, Rafael, four, Yannick, two, and Carlos, one, with Hong Kong-born Canadian actress Grace Chan.

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"It's partly also because I've reached a certain point in my life. We only have 24 hours a day, how do you want to use them?" he said. "At a certain point you will understand that you need to cut off things that are a waste of time and focus on things that are worthwhile."

Addressing whether he's in a feud with Kenneth, Kevin said: "We've known each other for so many years that there's no such thing as not getting along. I think those who are familiar with us would understand.

"People have different things to do at different stages in life. When Kenneth reaches that point, he will also understand that some things need to be given up."

The nail in the coffin was Kevin implying that he wouldn't be able to attend Kenneth's upcoming wedding with actress Roxanne Tong in Bali.

"If I have to leave home for a while, then that might be a little tough," he said.

Family members get involved

Grace, 32, inadvertently got involved when she posted about her travels on Xiaohongshu on Monday (Dec 4).

Netizens pointed out that she was able to go overseas while her husband said he couldn't make time to attend Kenneth's wedding due to their kids.

"Doesn't your husband think it's a waste of time?" a comment snarked.

Kevin's cousin, actor Vinci Wong, also posted a cryptic Instagram Story recently.

"With time, you'll eventually see a person's true nature. I've long ago seen their two faces — one before the camera and the other behind — so I have given up any contact with this person early on. If you ask me about him, I'm sorry, he is not even a friend of mine," he wrote.

This led to speculations that he was talking about Kevin, as Vinci reportedly said in 2019: "He's not my friend, we've been in less contact recently, he's hard to get and he has to keep an eye on his wife."

Kenneth responds: 'If you knew him, you wouldn't misunderstand him'

Kenneth also spoke about his supposed beef with Kevin at a promotional event on Dec 4 for his ongoing TVB drama The Queen of News.

Perplexed at how the rumours could have even started, he told Ming Pao Daily: "Kevin has three children, and our wedding is being held overseas. It will be very difficult for him to leave for a few days, but I'm fine even if he doesn't attend. I completely understand.

"We didn't invite a lot of people to the wedding either, only about 60."

He added that Kevin had already told him he wouldn't be able to attend the former's wedding.

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"A close friend will not be disappointed. Everyone has to make choices, and Kevin needs to take care of his children. If you ask me, I think family members should come first too. This is reasonable."

Kenneth admitted Kevin rarely attended their group gatherings since he became a dad of three and he also seemed unfazed by the 'waste of time' comment, defending Kevin further.

"We are familiar with Kevin as a person so we know what he's talking about. But if you're not close to him, you'd think he is arrogant," he said.

"I read the reports of him saying it's a 'waste of time'. Some people think it's bad of him but true friends will feel, 'It's okay if you don't have time now, just look for me when you are free'."

He also denied the feud was due to his co-star in The Queens of News, Charmaine Sheh. Kevin and Charmaine, 48, reportedly used to date.

Kenneth said: "I last worked with Charmaine about five or six years ago. If Kevin were unhappy about it, he would have expressed it at that time."

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drimac@asiaone.com