Edison Chen: Climbing back after a fall from grace

Edison Chen is one of Asia's biggest names in showbiz. He is also one of its most controversial.

The Hong Kong-Canadian pop star fell from grace spectacularly last year after photos he took while having sex with a string of female celebrities found their way onto the Internet.

Sze Ho-Chun, a Hong Kong computer technician, has been charged with posting the explicit photos online. The pictures showed Chen in compromising positions with various celebrities, including Canto-pop star Gillian Chung, actress Cecilia Cheung and former actress Bobo Chan.



The saucy content became a web sensation, forcing Chen, 28, into early retirement and sending him fleeing to his childhood home, Canada. After he repeatedly refusing to return to Hong Kong, the territory’s Department of Justice flew a legal team, including its chief magistrate, to Vancouver. There on Tuesday Chen gave evidence.

He told the unusual hearing the photos were his and he had stored them on a personal laptop that had gone missing last year. He told the court he believed the release of the photos was due to "foul play" by workers at a computer store he used in Hong Kong.

"I'm quite a private person," said Chen. "This was never meant for anyone else to see."

A crowd of two dozen photographers, many from Asian tabloids, mobbed Chen as he left the hearing surrounded by burly private security guards.

Chen was born in Canada of Portuguese-Chinese parents and was discovered a decade ago by a talent agent in a Hong Kong club. He soon became an icon in the music, film and fashion industries in Asia.

Chen, whose full name is Edison Chen Koon-hei, recorded 16 albums under the EEG (Emperor Entertainment Group) label, of which the latest is 2007's "Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself."

Before his dramatic retirement, Chen played a cameo role in the 2008 Batman movie "The Dark Knight," and a voice-over in the Cantonese version of the animated children's movie "Shrek."

Although he says he has walked away from the limelight, Chen's fame has not faded.

On Friday night he’ll make a special guest appearance in Singapore at a house party to promote the 60th anniversary of Adidas sportwear. His name might be sullied, but it is still bankable.