S1E57: Oh, all the things we didn't know about Wang Leehom: #PopVultures Ep 57

Dec 24, 2021

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Synopsis: The Straits Times examines the ins and outs of pop culture in the Asian entertainment and Hollywood scene.

In this latest episode of #PopVultures, host Jan Lee discusses the gossip story of the week, month and possibly entire year - the expose of Taiwanese-American singer Wang Leehom and his various misdeeds during his marriage to ex-wife Lee Jinglei.

She runs down how the saga unfolded with a timeline detailing the war of words between Wang and Lee after Wang confirmed the two were divorcing last Wednesday (Dec 15). Lee dropped a bombshell, nine-page long expose about Wang, accusing him of infidelity, soliciting prostitutes and verbal bullying last Friday.

In response, Wang claims that Lee coerced him into marriage and that he lived under fear, threats and extortion while they were together. He also claims that Lee demanded a lot of money in the wake of their divorce. The back-and-forth ended with Wang apologising to his wife and taking a break from show business for the time being.

Jan discusses why this saga so captivated the public, what Wang represented as a public figure and the many public relations mistakes he made in his handling of this crisis.

Here is what she covers:

00:48 Who is Wang Leehom?

03:09 What went down? A timeline of the war of words that went down between Wang and Lee

21:32 Why did this ugly divorce capture the public's attention? And why is this even worse than the Show Lo takedown of 2020? Who were the other players involved in this story?

39:36 Discussing the mistakes Wang made in handling this image crisis - from his dad's open letter to the typos in his statement

49:19 What can the public, and celebrities as well, learn from this saga?

Produced by Jan Lee (janlee@sph.com.sg) and Penelope Lee

Edited by: Penelope Lee & Hadyu Rahim

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