Hong Kong Actor Eric Tsang Suing Model Agent Over Sexual Assault Claims

The veteran star is suing the "godmother of Chinese modeling" Grace Han, who accused him of rape and harassment on her social media account.

Hong Kong award-winning actor-director Eric Tsang has denied allegations of sexual assault and harassment and is taking legal action against "godmother of Chinese modeling" Grace Han, who accused Tsang of rape and harassment on social media.

Tsang, 64, who has starred in the Infernal Affairs trilogy as well Monster Hunt, held a press conference on Jan. 17 to rebuke claims of sexually assaulting former actress Yammie Lam and harassing women at an incident in a karaoke bar, categorizing the allegations as "libel" and "cyberbullying."

"Regarding the reports of 'Eric Tsang assaulting Yammie Lam,' I can tell everyone it is completely fabricated," Tsang said, accompanied by his son, the film director Derek Tsang, and two lawyers. "Respecting women is my firmly held principle. I am willing to assist any kind of investigations, and am determined to use legal means to protect my reputation."

"Cyber violence can affect victims for a lifetime. I hope these incidents will occur less and less," said Tsang at the press conference.

Tsang disclosed that he is pursuing legal action against Grace Han for publishing the allegations on her Sina Weibo account, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

One of the allegations is against the All Stars Sports Association, of which Tsang is a founding member. The claim is that women's drinks were spiked and they were then attacked at a karaoke bar. Tsang says the allegation has been found to be untrue in a defamation lawsuit in 2006 that cleared his name.

Han, the former head of Ford Models in Asia who discovered Chinese supermodels Du Juan, Lu Yan and Li Ai, reacted to Tsang's public rebuttal on her Weibo account shortly after his press conference, saying that she can ask witnesses at the karaoke bar to come out and testify against Tsang and his friends.

Han's accusations against Tsang appeared in tandem with a video interview of Yammie Lam with Next Magazine in 2013 on Chinese social media, in which Lam admitted to having been raped by two prominent members of the entertainment industry in Hong Kong. However, the interviewer's voice, which articulated the names of the attackers, was dubbed. Lam was widely regarded as a rising star in Hong Kong in the 1980s but left the industry in the 1990s.

The allegations against Tsang are the latest to hit a prominent man in the Hong Kong film industry. In December, expat filmmaker and former Weinstein Co. Asia vp Bey Logan was accused of sexual harassment by several women.