Open Thread: Edison Chen

by Racialicious Special Correspondent Latoya Peterson

Edison Chen is a Chinese-Canadian pop star in Hong Kong who has recently found himself in a bit of trouble.

Innocently taking his Macbook in for repair, Chen – who had announced plans to marry his long time girlfriend – found himself embroiled in a sex scandal in which the upwards of 1,300 photos of him engaging in various acts with different HK starlets were released to the wilds of the internet.

What I find remarkable about this particular sex scandal is that the American media (among other countries) noticed. That in itself is amazing, as almost all the news I get about Asian pop stars comes from specialty blogs and my friends who translate the important stuff for me. According to the Wiki, news sources like CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and MSNBC. I was reading Radar this morning and they are providing some sort of ongoing coverage.

So, my next thought is why? Why cover this scandal?

In one respect, the scandal is big news just for the sheer volume of photos. Hot damn – 1300? Was Edison Chen an amateur pornographer on the side?

And Americans love sex, but how many of them knew who Edison Chen was before the story broke? Is part of the coverage being fueled by shock? Is the idea of an Asian man bedding that many women surprising?

Third, how much of the coverage and web searching is fueled by the fetish factor? The Edison Chen photos do represent some of the hottest Asian stars of the current era.

Finally, I am interested in the fall out from the story. The majority of the punishment is falling on Chen for making the choices he made. So far, it has been reported that he is being blackmailed, lost at least one sponsorship deal and was pulled from an upcoming film. (One of the starlets involved, Gillian Cheung, is also experiencing some complaints and reportedly was pulled from a Chinese New Year celebration video.)

This is fascinating, as it stands in direct opposition to how the American media reports on scandals like this. What if a comparable male celebrity in the US had leaked this many photos? (Like, say, Wilmer Valderrama or Adrian Grenier – both of whom have been rumored to get around?) Would either man have been penalized by his sponsors? How much scrutiny would the US female starlets receive? How would the media treat the women involved in the scandal?

I’ll be keeping an eye on this one, but what are your thoughts?