Husband's 'affair' triggered Coco's downward spiral

The late Hong Kong-American diva Coco Lee filed for divorce from her Canadian billionaire husband Bruce Rockowitz on January 17 this year - six months before her death - after allegedly discovering her spouse had an affair.

And the hurt of betrayal affected the singer's health as she felt extremely pained over the breakdown of her marriage.

The couple had been living separately since October 15 last year, with Lee asking Hong Kong's Family Court to approve her divorce application and to order Rockowitz to pay maintenance and transfer assets to her.

For they had signed two marital agreements - one prenuptial in October 2011 and the other after Lee found out her husband was having an affair in 2018, according to Sing Tao Daily, sister paper of The Standard.

Court documents unveiled show Lee filed for divorce on the grounds her husband committed unreasonable behavior and the marriage breakdown was "irreversible" after she found out about the alleged affair in 2017.

Lee was unwilling to identify Rockowitz's mistress but said in her court submission he admitted the affair and promised to cut ties with the mistress.

But two years later Lee found out her husband had continued the affair.

Weighed down by her husband's continuing betrayal, Lee felt extremely pained. That affected her health and her situation worsened gradually, according to Lee's submission to the Family Court. Lee subsequently made a will and left all her wealth and assets to her mother without allocating anything to her husband and two stepdaughters.

She also wrote in her court submission she did not get any care from her husband, who went to Ibiza in Spain for a luxury yacht vacation while she was undergoing a checkup in Hong Kong in August last year after discovering a tumor in her left breast.

"My husband does not love me anymore, and there is no way for the both of us to maintain a married relationship," Lee wrote in her court submission.

She continued by saying she was a well-known artist and international figure, and her husband's behavior exerted huge pressure both mentally and physically, and she needed to slow the pace of her work. That caused a drop in her income and even risked damage to her reputation.

The couple started to live separately on October 15, 2022 so Lee requested the court to grant a divorce decree, an order for Rockowitz to pay her alimony regularly and another order to transfer Rockowitz's assets.

Sources added that Lee submitted a prenuptial agreement and a post-marriage agreement to the court, which they signed voluntarily when they married in 2011 to avoid a financial dispute if there was a breakdown in the marriage.

The agreement said the two started to live together in Chung Hom Kok in Stanley in 2004, and Lee knew about Rockowitz's previous failed marriage as he has two daughters with his ex-wife.

When the two married on October 27, 2011 Rockowitz was also president of Li & Fung (Trading), with a monthly salary of around HK$200,000. According to the agreement Rockowitz and Lee agreed a breakdown in the marriage was defined as separating for at least three months or both agreeing such a situation was irreversible.

The agreement set out three situations, saying if the relationship broke down within a year after their marriage Rockowitz would pay Lee HK$125 million.

If the relationship broke down more than a year after their marriage then on top of the HK$125 million Rockowitz would have to pay Lee HK$1.5 million a year, or HK$3 million a year if they divorced after 15 years.

Rockowitz would also have to purchase a 2,000-square-foot mansion and gift it to Lee and also pay for its maintenance.

A month after Lee filed the divorce application Rockowitz issued a response through his lawyer admitting his affair in 2017, but not the continuation of the affair his wife mentioned.

The lawyer added: "I told his wife to consult a doctor immediately when he found out about the tumor in his wife's left breast, but Lee had a performance in the mainland and delayed her treatment."

Rockowitz also said he proposed to postpone his trip to Europe, but Lee told him to go as scheduled with his family.

Lee took her own life on July 5 at the age of 48.