Edison Chen Koon-hei (Chinese: 陳冠希, born Chen Hing-wah on 7 October 1980) is a Canadian-born Hong-Kong actor, singer, rapper, fashion designer and entrepreneur.[1] Chen is the co-founder of CLOT, a Hong Kong-based streetwear and fashion label.[2] Debuting in 1999, he released multiple Cantopop and Mandopop albums under the record company Emperor Entertainment Group, before releasing Please Steal This Album in 2004, the first of many Cantonese-language hip-hop albums.
On 21 February 2008, he publicly announced that he intended to step away "indefinitely" from the Hong Kong entertainment industry due to a sex photo scandal, in which numerous explicit photographs of Chen and several Hong Kong actresses were published online.[3][4] He returned in 2010 but other than a brief cameo in the 2014 film Golden Chickensss, he did not make a complete comeback to the Hong Kong film industry until 2016.
Early life
Along with his two older sisters, Chen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is of Chinese and one-eighth Portuguese descent.[5] Chen's father is businessman Edward Chen (陳澤民), a Hong Kong entertainment industry mogul famously known as "Ninth Brother" (九哥).[6][7] He is of Shanghai ancestry on his father's side.[8]
Chen's native language is English. He is also fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin, which he primarily records music in. He speaks conversational Japanese as a result of his early training to be a Hong Kong idol,[9] and he knows some basic Khmer since he learnt it when portraying a Cambodian assassin in the 2006 Hong Kong movie Dog Bite Dog.[10]
Career
Film
In 1999, a talent scout approached Chen while he was clubbing with friends in Hong Kong and asked him to film a commercial. He was aged 19[11] when he was featured in Leon Lai's Citibank commercial. In the same year, he also starred alongside Cecilia Cheung in a commemorative subway commercial.[12]
He also filmed a cameo as a thug in The Dark Knight but because of the scandal, his role was reduced and was seen very briefly as a receptionist instead. Some reports states that he was originally cast to play Lau, a corrupted Chinese accountant, which was played by Chin Han. He made his comeback in an Asian-American film called Almost Perfect. On 28 October, during a fashion event in Beijing, Edison Chen announced that he would be starring in Initial D 2. The filming of the movie was scheduled to begin in 2011 but it has been delayed indefinitely.[15] In 2014, he made an brief comeback to the Hong Kong film industry in Golden Chickensss. After eight years of doing short roles, he is officially making a comeback to the entertainment business after he was spotted filming for Lou Ye's new project in Guangzhou in April 2016.[16]
Music
In 2000, at the age of 20, Chen landed a record deal with Emperor Entertainment Group. It took him a number of successful album releases before he was given the opportunity to produce a hip hop album.[17] His first hip-hop release was in February 2004, called Please Steal This Album backed by MC Yan and Singaporean musician Hanjin Chen. Several singles from the album topped local pop charts. Chen mentioned the difficulty of fitting in Hong Kong, where Cantopop dominates, but said that hip hop has a great potential.[17]
After Chen's comeback in late 2009 he began work on his next album titled Confusion. The record includes a feature by well-known Taiwanese rapper MC HotDog, as well as famous singers Sammi Cheng and Jay Chou.
Chen released two Cantonese hip-hop albums in collaboration with Hong Kong rappers MC Yan and Chef entitled 三角度 (3 Corners) and 三角度(二) (3 Corners II) in 2012 and 2015 respectively.
Fashion and business founder
Edison's foray into the fashion industry accompanied his rising success as a young pop icon. Edison, along with partners Kevin Poon and Billy Ip, became the founders of CLOT Inc., a clothing company described as a "lifestyle company" that is geared toward youth culture, and bringing street fashion to China.[18] The company has collaborated with many big clothing companies, such as Adidas, Nike, A Bathing Ape, Subcrew and Disney. CLOT operates multiple stores worldwide through its retail component JUICE STORE, including in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, mainland China and Taiwan.[19]
Multimedia company
In February 2007, he invested $10 million HKD to open his own multi-media company, Clot Media Division, which plans to produce movies, commercials and music albums. In June 2007, he released a Mandarin album, Allow Me to Re-Introduce Myself (讓我再次介紹我自己), with tracks produced by legendary hip-hop artist Kanye West, as well as producers Just Blaze and Clinton Sparks.
Community work
As early as 2001 Chen had appeared in Vancouver charity shows. He has also been a supporter for the gay and lesbian community in Hong Kong, including being voted as an icon in 2001.[13]
In 2007 he was invited by Be@rbrick toys for a charity event in Harbour City, Hong Kong. The charity proceeds were donated to "Hong Kong Blood Cancer Foundation".[20]
In March 2004, two male teenagers assaulted Chen in the Central District of Hong Kong.[23] The two teenagers mocked Chen with dance moves outside a record store.[24] Immediately following the dance taunt, both of the teenagers punched Chen.[24] Upon doing so the two teenagers fled the scene, and Chen gave chase. Chen eventually caught up to the two individuals as they were trying to board a bus. They were turned over to Hong Kong Police. As a result of the incident, Chen reported that he sprained his ankle and that his cheekbone and ear were also injured. Chen declined to press charges and the two individuals were released.[24]
Their lives would be ruined if I pressed charges. Their mother asked me to forgive them. I went to the hospital and got checked out and since it's just bruises, I decided to let it go.
Chen drove to his home after midnight 9 March 2007. The gate was blocked by a Toyota Crown Comforttaxi that had just dropped off its passengers. The taxi driver then signaled Chen to move away so he could pull out, clearing the way for Chen to enter. Chen's security guard told the taxi driver to pull over so that Chen could pass. The taxi driver insulted the security guard. Chen proceeded to have an argument with the taxi driver. Despite the presence of the security guard and other witnesses, he got out of his car and kicked the taxi several times, denting it and breaking all its windows. He was subsequently charged by the police. On the basis of these charges he was convicted and placed on a one-year good behavior bond. He was also fined; the taxi company was granted HK$4,700 in compensation for the damage inflicted to the car.[26]
In January 2008, Chen was involved in a widely publicised sex scandal when sexually explicit nude photographs of himself taken four years earlier became widely circulated on the Internet. Chen was never accused of uploading the photos himself and a computer technician was later sentenced for accessing Chen's computer during a repair.[27] Celebrities implicated in the scandal included 8 victims: Cecilia Cheung, Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan, Candice Chan (陈思慧), Vincy Yeung (杨永晴), Mandy Chen (陈育嬬) and Rachel Ngan (颜颖思). Nude photos of Edison's ex-girlfriend, Vincy Yeung, were also made public and the future of their relationship was the subject of intense media gossip.
Hong Kong police have stated that they confiscated a collection of sex-related photos that involve six other identifiable females and other unidentifiable males.
Initially the authenticity of the photos was denied, and digital manipulation was used as the primary explanation for the pictures. However, Hong Kong police and Photoshop experts argued that the photos were in fact real and not digitally altered. This brought about a serious reaction towards all parties involved in the scandal. As a result, Chen made a public apology in English to the Hong Kong people and the women involved and indirectly admitted his role and expressed remorse and subsequently announced his indefinite departure from the Hong Kong entertainment industry at a press conference.[4][28]
Due to the scandal, the Google search engine rankings for 2008 resulted in Chen's Chinese name being the number 1 search term in China, and number 3 in Taiwan.[29] Chen was runner-up to US president-elect Barack Obama in the Hong Kong Person of 2008 poll by government-run RTHK radio, with just under 30 percent of votes in the Person of the Year.[30] On 1 June 2009, Chen spoke openly about the sex photo scandal for the first time since the scandal broke in an interview with TalkAsia on CNN.[31] In the interview he reveals his side of the scandal and how he endured criticisms from the public, the media, and from the individuals affected by the case.
2011 photo scandal
Three years later, Chen was involved in another photo scandal, this time with a 16-year-old Hong Kong model Cammi Tse. Their relationship was revealed after photos of them together hugging and kissing each other were leaked online and later, the 16-year-old model stated that her phone was lost. It was later revealed that Chen had sent text messages to Tse, asking her to pose for him in swimsuits and school uniforms. Tse confirmed that there were no nude photos.[32] Tse reported that she lost her virginity to Chen and adding on that he filmed a two-minute video of her in the bedroom and he also bought sexy lingerie for her.[33]
Personal life
In 2015, Chen began dating Chinese model and actress Qin Shupei. In August 2017, Chen confirmed the birth of his daughter, Alaia.[34]
2007 – BQ Celebrity Score Awards – Nominee – Best Fashion Artist
2007 – Sina "2007 Guangdong Ten Network Entertainment festival" Best Fashion Music Artists (winner)
2011 – MTV Super Festival Annual Trend of Most Style Artist Award (winner)
Notes
^Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau) permanent residents, regardless of whether they have Chinese nationality or not, have the right to vote or register as voters.
^"Archived copy". www.hongkonggay.info. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2022.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ abSouth China morning post. "SCMPArchived 7 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine." Icon Chen., 12 February 2008, Original date: 6 February 2001. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
^ abSouth China morning post. "SCMPArchived 23 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine." A hip crop., 12 February 2008, Original date: 17 December 2004. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
