Taiwan’s #MeToo Continues As Singer Chou Yi-Pei Accused Host Blackie Chen of Sexual Harassment

Even if you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about what’s been happening to the Taiwan entertainment industry.

The recent drama, which was first triggered by sexual harassment allegations against host Mickey Huang, skyrocketed after multiple other celebrities like NONO and Aaron Yan got exposed by their victims as well.

Most recently, Taiwanese singer Chou Yi-Pei, known in the past by her stage name Da Ya, emerged with accusations against her former boss Blackie Chen, who also happens to be the husband of Taiwanese singer Christine Fan.

For those who don’t know, Chen, a host, was Chou’s boss for around four years.

The latter first rose to fame after she debuted in Hey Girl, the girl group formed through the television programme Blackie’s Teenage Club.

Chou’s Accusations: Chen Harassed Her 11 Years Ago

In a lengthy Facebook post that Chou uploaded on her Facebook page yesterday (27 June), she revealed the incident that took place between her and Chen over a decade ago in 2012.

According to her, the incident occurred in the wee hours of 18 July 2012.

She was on a “red-eye flight” (i.e. an overnight flight) from Taiwan to Hong Kong with her a female makeup artist, her male manager, Chen and his male manager to film a television programme.

They were extremely busy after reaching Taiwan and only got to rest after nightfall.

When Chou yawned on the way to the hotel due to fatigue, Chen asked her if she was tired because she “had not relaxed in a long time”.

He also blinked his eyes in an… unnatural way, to say the least.

At that point, Chou did not think much of what Chen said and thought he was referring to a massage.

Hence, she responded by saying that her shoulders were tense and that she should relax a little.

It only dawned on her that Chen meant another kind of relaxation later on during the car ride.

However, she did not take his statements to heart as he usually joked around; the managers heard the conversation as well.

After reaching the hotel, Chou, Chen and Chen’s manager went to their own rooms to rest while Chou’s hairstylist and manager attended a meeting with the programme’s production staff.

On the other hand, Chou’s makeup artist was waiting in the lobby for a friend that Chou also happened to know.

In the cramped lift on the way to the hotel rooms, Chen suddenly asked Chou in a “breathy voice”, “What room are you staying in?”

Chou paused momentarily before making a silly face as she felt she did not have to tell Chen what room she was staying in.

However, Chen eagerly asked again, “Didn’t you say you wanted to relax?”

Chou initially tried to tell him his manager’s room number as she did not want him to know her room number, but Chen saw through her lies and continued to ask what her hotel room number was.

She eventually relented but felt uneasy about it.

However, she still did not think that Chen would do anything since his manager was in the lift and heard their conversation as well.

Doorbell Rang; Chen Was Standing Outside Her Door

After entering her room, Chou notified her makeup artist and friend that they could proceed to her room in around 20 minutes.

She then started to prepare to shower.

But before she could shower, the doorbell rang.

Chou, who was only wearing her underwear then, thought her friends had arrived in advance.

She then put on a bathrobe while nagging at them for coming so early before looking into the peephole of her door.

Instead of the friends she was expecting, Chen was the one standing on the other side of the door.

She asked what he was doing loudly through the door, and he replied by asking her to open her door in a low voice.

Chou then told Chen clearly that she was tired and just about to shower. She also requested that he return to his room.

However, Chen refused to budge; he asked her to open her door and said he would only talk to her for a while.

Chou thought about it and eventually decided to open her door slightly as Chen was her boss, and she was concerned that he had a work-related thing to discuss with her.

Once Chou opened her door slightly, Chen immediately pushed it fully open and let himself into her room. He also sat directly on her bed.

Chou tried to maintain a professional distance from Chen by sitting on a chair near the desk in her room and trying to wrap her bathrobe around her as tightly as possible.

He then continued to joke about “relaxing”, but Chou told him to stop playing around and said she was exhausted.

Chen Dragged Her Chair Towards Him; She Realised She Was in Danger

Chen, however, did not care about Chou’s requests to leave her alone and dragged her chair towards him.

This was when she realised she was in trouble, but she was too scared to reach for her phone.

Her bathrobe, which could be pulled off her easily, added to her fear as well.

Apart from that, Chou knew that she had to be on set with Chen for the entirety of the next day.

They had to travel back to Taiwan together as well.

As such, Chou told herself she could not lose her temper with Chen, as she knew from past experiences that he had the power to make her career take a dip immediately if he wanted to.

She then tried to get him to leave by telling her that her friends were coming over, but he refused.

Tried to Open the Door to Ensure Her Safety, but He Hugged Her from Behind

After failing to get Chen to leave, Chou decided to open the door of the room to try and ensure her safety.

However, Chen went over and hugged Chou from behind.

Chou tried her best to break free from Chen’s embrace but was unable to due to his strong physique.

Chen then asked her if he was buff, to which she replied that she did not like buff guys.

In response, he said, “You haven’t tried one [buff guy] before. How do you know that you don’t like them?”

Before she could react, Chen had pulled her to her bed with him.

She took the opportunity to push him away and readjust her bathrobe before once again telling him to return to his room.

To her shock, he said that he would once they “did it fast”.

Chen Said Fan Doesn’t Like to “Participate in Such Activities”

Chou then explained to Chen that she saw him as an older brother, which was why she did not think much when he joked around earlier that day.

She added that he was already married to Christine Fan, that she attended their wedding and that his actions were extremely weird and wrong.

To Chou’s disbelief, Chen responded, “I don’t have a choice. Sister Fan (Christine) doesn’t like doing these things!”

She recounted how Chen’s words made her nauseous, especially since Chen had created a public image of him being a loving husband.

Chou also mentioned how she did not need to know what Fan did not like to do and that Chen still should not have treated other women like that, even if he had “needs”.

In a bid to try and protect herself, Chou also told Chen that he should stop because they were from the same company, especially since he was his boss.

However, Chen replied by saying that she was very attractive.

Said He Could Try Letting His Younger Sister Kiss Him On the Lips Next Time

At that point, there were sounds of people walking past from outside Chou’s room.

Chou used this chance to say that her friends would be reaching soon and begged Chen to exit her room.

Chen eventually said that he would but asked her to kiss him on the lips before he left.

To that, Chou repeated that she only saw him as an elder brother figure and asked him if he would ask his own younger sister to kiss him on the lips.

He said, “I’ve never done it before, but I can try it next time!”

That left Chou dumbfounded.

Eventually Left, but Came Up With an Excuse

In the end, Chou finally managed to get Chen to leave her room.

She immediately locked her door after he left, but he soon rang the doorbell again.

Through her locked door, she asked what Chen wanted.

Chen told her to give him some makeup remover as he was worried he would run into other people near the lift.

It then dawned on Chou that Chen had already planned an elaborate excuse to get him out of the situation — by saying to anyone he met that he only visited Chou’s room to borrow makeup remover, he would not be caught liable for his actions.

He Called Her Again When Her Friends Were In the Room

After Chou’s friends arrived, she immediately told them about what had happened and asked them helplessly for advice.

Before she could finish speaking, Chen called her through his telephone in the hotel room.

She picked up the call; Chen asked if she had gone to sleep.

He even offered to let her come to his room if she could not fall asleep as his room “was bigger, and they could even watch DVDs together”.

Chou’s makeup artist and friend, who both heard what Chen told her, were left absolutely stunned at Chen’s actions and words.

Before they left her room, they reminded her repeatedly to lock her room door and to secure the chain on her door.

Chen Pretended Like Nothing Happened Afterwards

After the incident, Chen pretended as if nothing had happened.

At the end of her post, Chou explained that she had wanted to speak up about her experience for a long time but never found enough courage to do so until the rise of the #MeToo movement in Taiwan.

She added that over the past few years, she has also heard of other similar experiences that other women had with Chen.

Chou then highlighted how Chen had a relatively positive image in the media and was often seen as a man who loved his wife and family.

A while back, Chen also spotted her when they happened to be dining in the same restaurant.

Chen, who was there with Fan, even brought Fan over to say hello to Chou.

At that point, when Chou was forced to smile at him and greet him, she realised that she hated and feared him at the same time.

She then expressed her hopes for such incidents to not happen in the future and reminded women to never let jokes from others get out of hand and to retaliate if they get attacked.

Chen’s Response: Denied All Allegations

After Chou’s Facebook post went viral, Chen uploaded a statement to Weibo on the same day.

In his post, which was produced by lawyers, it was indicated that Chen denied all allegations and would be pursuing the matter.

His lawyer added that Chen is “extremely supportive” of the #MeToo movement and will take full responsibility if he is found to be wrong.

However, he would also be taking legal action against those spreading fake news if he is found to be innocent.