Edison Chen's naughty photo scandal

he was quitting show business indefinitely after admitting

here that he had taken the photos embarrassing several

well-known starlets that had been leaked to the Internet,

editor Mu Xuequan of CHINA VIEW is reporting Feb. 21st.    

The 27-year-old Canadian-born Chinese said he had

come back to Hong Kong to

"account for himself and to apologize to those involved in

or effected by the scandal".   

"I would like to apologize to all the ladies involved in the scandal

and their families for all their sufferings. I am sorry,"

the Vancouver native said at a press conference attended by hundreds of media.    

Chen said he would leave the Hong Kong entertainment industry

indefinitely after fulfilling all existing contracts. He did not give

a specific time frame for his withdrawal.

    He added he would devote himself to charity work in the coming months.

    The photo scandal started with the uploading of hundreds of

sexually-explicit photos starting on Jan. 27 featuring Chen and various

Hong Kong starlets. The pictures have spread like wildfire on the Internet ever since.

    Chen said at the press conference the photos were stolen and distributed without his approval.

    "These photos had not been shown to people

and were never intended to be shown to anyone,"

he said.

   Hong Kong police were trying to find the first releaser of the photos

and had made several arrests in connection with them.

Chen allegedly sent his laptop to a repair shop,

leading to the leak and on-line circulation of the photos.

   In addition, a Beijing Internet self-discipline organization

has asked the Chinese Internet search engine Baidu.com

 to make a public apology for spreading the photos.

Mr. Chen, in Hollywood, that is what we call a career booster.

(March 20th update:  Hong Kong police

arrested 8 people at a computer repair

place for taking photos off Mr. Chen's

laptop computer and posting them on the Internet.

Zac Efron was not involved in the leaking

of the photos onto the Internet.)

.

Rash Manly                                   22moon.com

633 rashmanly Published 2/21/08   Message Add to Friends