Gillian Chung was involved in the suspected nude picture scandal. Her image is damaged. Earlier, her statement “Too naïve, very silly” was met with criticism because people felt it lacked honesty. Her performance with her Twins partner, Charlene Choi, at TVB’s charity event 《雪中送暖》 was also met with resistance from audiences. Audience members pressured TVB and there was a rapid increase of complaints to 170 cases as of yesterday afternoon. In the last couple of days, netizens started up 「全球要求阿嬌退出娛樂圈大行動」 which aims to nudge Gillian into retirement from the entertainment industry. There will be a 「玩嬌行動」 (“play” with Gillian) protest scheduled for next Saturday at West Kowloon centre because Gillian will be attending the equestrian event. At the same time, another group called 「一群清醒的歌迷」 (a group of conscious (awoken) fans) will send her a 「給阿Sa的信」 (open letter to Gillian). This group of fans had their heart broken by Gillian and intend to leave Gillian in the dust.
Tonight TVB’s charity event 《雪中送暖》 will be broadcasted. It is to raise money for the victims of the snow disaster in mainland China. This is Gillian’s first performance since the scandal was made public. She will perform a song, 《連帶關係》, with her Twins partner Charlene. But, after the news of Gillian’s performance was announced, audience’s protests have increasingly become more heated. The number of complaints has jumped to 170 cases from the original 8 cases. All of the complaints are against TVB for arranging Gillian’s performance in the show. Within those complaints, some complained about Liza Wang’s concert at Tin Shui Wai which was called 《天水荃情喜洋洋》 because TVB aired a segment with Twins. They criticized TVB for not cutting out those segments on February 9th.
Even though there was complaints but TVB also received phone calls and e-mails which support Gillian. TVB assistant director of public relations, 曾醒明, announced there was a particularly long e-mail addressed to TVB executive Stephen Chen. It suggested that TVB should give Gillian more encouragement to face the crowd and continue to work. It stated: “No one is perfect. [Gillian] should be given chances.” There were more then 10 people who called in to support Gillian’s performance. 曾醒明 said: “TVB respects people with differing opinions. As of right now, there will be no changes to the charity event. Twins did not quit the performance. TVB respects artistes. Twins is a duo and we won’t break up their performance. The program will start at 8 o’clock and Twins’ performance was scheduled near the start of the event.” Would there be special arrangements? 曾醒明 expressed that EEG did not make any special requests so everything will be conducted like normal. There will be no special arrangement for security. It is up to EEG if Gillian will accept any interviews. According to information, Twins will have another job this evening so they will leave immediately after the performance. The program’s producer, 衛世輝, said that people should give Gillian a chance. He said: “Even Hong Kong has renewal (revival) programs!”
Even though there is pressure, Gillian is determined to perform on-stage to help this charity event. But this has made Twins worry about their future. TVB continue to support Gillian coming out to work. Other broadcast stations, like 商台 announced a list of music and concert plans but Twins was not on the list. 商台 executive 陳靜嫻 expressed that there will be 3 big concert events in the next 9 months. Singers include Eason Chan, Miriam Yeung and Leo Ku. When asked if Twins are in their plans, she said: “Not right now.”
Actually, Twins’ work schedule was already thrown into chaos after the scandal. Originally, they were supposed to go to Taiwan to promote their Mandarin Chinese album. Yesterday, that trip was cancelled in an announcement. Twins’ representatives in Taiwan passed on the information from EEG. It stated that Twins needs to record a Cantonese album so they could not go to Taiwan for promotion. Some fans in Taiwan expressed their disappointment on the internet and stated that Twins did not respect the Taiwanese market. Gillian will return to Beijing to finish her scenes in 《梅蘭芳》 in a few days. It is estimated that she will wrap up her scenes in two days. Other movies like 《武俠梁祝》 have not confirmed if Gillian will be playing those roles.
After the scandal broke, Gillian was in isolation for two weeks. Yesterday, news reports stated that she found out her love had many girlfriends at the same time. She felt her feelings were deceived so she locked herself in her house. Fortunately, Charlene helped her pull through emotionally. Gillian was smiling at the news conference because EEG wanted her to be strong and not cry during CNY.
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