Edison Chen recently re -emerged in public speech throughout Asia, since his past apologies and retirement speech were compared with the current scandal of actor Kim Soo Hyun who involves the late Kim Sae Ron. This renewed attention focused on the notorious photographic scandal that once shaken the entire Asian entertainment sector.
In 2008, not only Chinese entertainment, but the entire Asian Showbiz scene was shaken when 1,300 explicit photos of Edison Chen were leaked with numerous Chinese actresses. The scandal irreversibly damaged the life of the people involved. Even after 17 years, the actions of the man who have spread these private images, the computer technician Sze Ho-Chun, remain a source of indignation. So what consequences had to face for its illegal actions?
A scandal unleashed by a broken laptop
According to Toutiao and corroborated by the public registers, the scandal began when Edison Chen discovered a defect with his laptop and asked his assistant to repair him. Since the device contained sensitive and private images, Edison personally met the owner of the shop to underline the importance of confidentiality once the data is restored.
The laptop was delivered to Sze Ho-Chun, an employee at the Hong Kong Multimedia computer repair workshop. Known for its cautious nature, Edison Chen even assigned an assistant to monitor the repair process daily. However, during the recovery of data, Sze secretly copied the sensitive materials on a USB unit while its actions have gone unnoticed.
Later he moved the files to his personal computer and kept them at his house. Months later, he showed photos of Gillian Chung and other actresses to colleagues. By creating the legal and ethical gravity of his actions, he said he has deleted the files.
What did not foresee was that his colleague Sze Ka-Chun (no relationship despite the similar name) had secretly kept copies of the photos. Sze Ka-Chun then shared them with two colleagues, Choi Yuk-Fan and Leung Ting-Yan, and even burned them on a CD that gave Choi as a memory.
In the end, Sze Ka-Chun erroneously loaded the images on the internal corporate server, activating mass loss. The photos spread rapidly on the internet, unleashing one of the most explosive scandals in the history of Chinese entertainment. A total of 1,300 photos have been leaked showing Edison Chen in intimate situations with 10 women, including two not celebrities. The first actresses identified in the losses included Cecilia Cheung, Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan, Candice Chan, Mandy Chen and Rachel Ngan.
Punishment for the author of the crime
On January 29, 2008, Edison Chen and several victims reported by the police, pushing an urgent investigation. The authorities identified five suspicions, two men and three women, as involved in the violation of privacy.
On February 2, 2008, Sze Ho-Chun was arrested by the Hong Kong police and accused of dishonest use of a computer and distributing obscene content. The police discovered 1,300 explicit images divided into 11 folders on his personal computer. Only about half of these was publicly spread. His rapid arrest has contributed to limiting the scale of the damage.
Sze Ho-Chun was ultimately sentenced to 8 months and 15 days in prison. The remaining four suspicions have not been accused and testified as witnesses. However, the public feeling in China considered the punishment that is too indulgent, given the devastating impact on Edison Chen and in particular on the victims. The critics claimed that the other employees involved had consciously enabled the loss and should have been held responsible.
According to Toutiao, after having served his sentence, Sze Ho-Chun returned to work in the repair of the computer. In interviews with the media, he denied spreading the photos, claiming that he simply filed them. However, he admitted that the scandal was a mistake that has life altey, saying, “I would never dare to violate the privacy of a client. My arrogance and curiosity have damaged so many people. I have to be sincere apologies.”
Among the most strongly affected were Gillian Chung and Cecilia Cheung, who faced immense personal and professional repercussions with leaked images.
