Compiled by IYLIA MARSYA ISKANDAR, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
CHINESE businessman Wang Xiaofei has apologised for falsely claiming that his ex-wife, famous Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu, consumes illegal drugs, China Press reported.
“Yesterday, I made the most regrettable decision in my life in a moment of recklessness.
“I feel guilty about Xiyuan (Hsu’s real name), the children and Hsu’s mother,” he wrote on Weibo.
Wang caused a stir with the claim recently in what is believed to be in retaliation for the surfacing of online photos of his alleged affair with Chinese influencer and actress Zhang Yingying.
He described his action as immature and unwise, and claimed to have apologised to Hsu and her mother.
“Being a 40-year-old, one must admit it when they have made a mistake. Being ridiculed for saying something irresponsible is fine.
“I accept all online criticisms and ridicule aimed at me,” he said.
Wang added that he would stop bothering Hsu and let her move on with her life.
He was also earlier believed to have attempted to bribe a Taiwanese journalist into stopping him from revealing more incriminating photos of him being with other women during his marriage to Hsu.
Wang and Hsu split in November last year after 10 years of marriage. They have two children together.
In just three months after the divorce, Hsu married her former boyfriend, South Korean musician DJ Koo.
On May 23, paparazzi captured a video of Wang and his alleged lover Zhang taking a PCR test together.
Zhang was also spotted spending four days at Wang’s house.
Neither has confirmed their relationship status.
> The daily also reported that the announcement by a Chinese company that it will be producing a remake of the popular idol drama Smiling Pasta has failed to bring smiles to Internet users.
Originally released in 2006, the romantic comedy starred Taiwanese singer Cyndi Wang and Nicholas Teo, the Malaysian singer.
“After 16 years, the pasta shop filled with love and smiles is set to reopen soon. As long as you keep smiling, there is nothing you can’t overcome. Who will be the one to break the ‘curse of the three-month romance’?” the company wrote, citing lines from the TV series.
The news quickly became the No. 1 trending topic on Weibo.
Many feel remakes are never as good as the original.
“All drama remakes have proven to be worse. Nothing can surpass the original classic,” one Internet user wrote.
It was earlier reported that Wang, 39, sparked a wave of nostalgia after her performance of her song Cyndi Loves You on the TV programme Sisters Who Make Waves went viral.
Smiling Pasta had 17 episodes and Wang played a young woman whose relationships never cross the three-month mark until she meet Teo’s character.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.