Star sues as song reopens old wounds

Wallis Wang

Actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi has sued the president of her former agency, Yu Yuk-hing, for defamation after Yu wrote a song criticizing her.

The move comes four years after Cheung was sued by the agency, Asia Entertainment Group, and Yu, for failing to appear in movies they had arranged despite receiving advance payments. They demanded HK$12.76 million in compensation.

In a writ filed with the high court on Monday, Cheung slammed Yu as "dishonest" and requested it order the removal of all defamatory words relating to her from social media.

She said Yu "maliciously procured the viral and widespread publication and republication of false words defamatory of Cecilia" by posting words and videos on social media and communicating with reporters on June 1.

"Yu's actions were malicious in that he knew those words and the meanings conveyed were all false, [and] his dominant intention was to harm and hurt Cecilia out of spite," she said in the writ.

Yu is said to intend to force her to settle the 2020 case with him "on most unreasonable terms," or seek attention for psychological self-gratification or promote his new work in the industry for financial gain.

He also made the publication of defamatory words without seeking her out for comments or warning her, denying her the opportunity to correct them, she said.

Yu, she said, was never her manager, which was Hong Kong Asia Entertainment Group, and it was wound up by the high court in 2013.

"Yu is and was fully aware he never gave money, certainly not as much as HK$40 million, to Cecilia - it was HKAEG as a corporation which did," the writ wrote, adding the company was a "separate legal entity" and Cheung's financial dealings with the company "no longer had anything to do with Yu."

Cheung requested a mandatory injunction be handed down compelling Yu to remove all defamatory words from social media, and to restrain him from publishing defamatory words or false allegations in any way.

She also asked for a written apology, or statements to retract or correct his words, as well as compensation.

The 2020 lawsuit will be heard starting next December 3 and last for eight days. The case involves 500 documents and both parties are expected to summon two witnesses each.