Cecilia Cheung’s Eagerness to Make Quick Cash Angers Derek Yee
In April 2009, Cecilia Cheung Pak Chi and her manager, Emily, actively approached Director, Derek Yee to discuss collaborating on a film together. Due to Cecila’s nude photos actively circulating in China at the time, her comeback was postponed indefinitely.
Afterwards, Cecilia Cheung appeared in an I-Cable interview and bluntly accused Edison Chen Koon Hei for his irresponsible behavior regarding the nude photo scandal. After the interview, Cecilia successfully regained her image. Since having her second son, Quintus in May 2010, Cecilia once again became a sought after celebrity.
Cecilia won the Hong Kong Best Actress Award due to her role in Derek Yee’s 2003 film, Lost in Time <忘不了>. Hoping to pay her gratitude towards Derek Yee, Cecilia originally intended to make her comeback by acting in Derek’s film. Unfortunately, the script for Derek’s new film <大魔术师> has not been completed yet and the pair could not agree on the final terms.
Hoping to earn some quick cash, Cecilia agreed to film Raymond Wong Pak Ming’s All’s Well, Ends Well 2010 <最强喜事> as her first comeback project instead. Allegedly, Cecilia received $10 million (HKD) for All’s Well, Ends Well 2010. Cecilia’s decision to film Raymond Wong’s movie infuriated Derek Yee, who felt betrayed. Tabloids claimed that the pair had a recent fall out.
Source: Tom.com
Jayne: Cecilia Cheung had a remarkable turnaround in establishing a positive public image since the nude photo scandal. Being a devoted mother of two sons gained her a lot of positive press. The public started admiring her cute babies and forgave her for her past wild persona.
I’ve said this before, Cecilia’s turnaround reminds me very much of Angelina Jolie, who had a cultish and drug-rumored past. Although Angelina volunteers for the United Nations, perhaps there is a darker side to her motive. Allegedly, she notifies the tabloids of her whereabouts (including volunteer locations and outings with the children) so that photographers can capture those heart-warming moments. How bad can a person who engages in countless charitable events and appears to be a devoted mother?
I do not doubt that Angelina or Cecilia love their children, but they play up the “loving mother” image because it really works in boosting their public image.
Gillian Chung unfortunately did not have children as props to improve her image. She did have Charlene and the past popularity of Twins to help her along though. Although Gillian is busy with many projects and is earning good money again, IMO, I think Cecilia bounced back with a much more positive image. Props to her manager in managing her public image so effectively.
Definitely becoming a mother has made her more mature than before, and has really helped her regain her image faster and easier compared to Gillian, who is trying to prove herself again through work. We don’t know any of these celebrities as real people so who knows if their loving and charitable activities are just acts for publicities? Who doesn’t want to have a good public image? Honestly I think Nic and Cecilia have presented themselves very well in front of the media after becoming parents and have become very mature in handling situations, but who knows what happens at home behind closed doors? Who knows what Deborah and Patrick truly think about their daughter-in-law? That’s their personal affair. The only thing we can judge by is how they handle themselves in public and make sure they do not let a scandal like this happen to them again. Hopefully they learned from their mistakes.
I don’t blame her for wanting money. She can’t wait in perpetual as the director refines an incomplete script. This is her time for a comeback and it is her right to make an appropriate action. All these issues about greatfulness, well she can still act in his movie after the 1st comeback film. If he is hoping to cash on her 1st comeback movie, well he doesn’t have her best interest at heart too, so I’ll say quid pro quo.
Cecilia is very lucky that she has a great husband and understanding in laws. So far the Tse family has proven themselves very supportive and protective of her and I believe they do mean what they said sincerely.
But Cecilia herself also conducted herself with utmost self respect. I remember her interview and she was brutally honest. She didn’t play the victim card, she didn’t say she didn’t participate in the pictures willingly, but she was angry how Edison kept using them for publicity sake, to protect himself by standing behind the women.
Gillian on the other hand was an utter disaster. Her PR company like I said should be sacked. Charlene’s standing next to her did help her image but on her own, her interview in Be My Guest I believe was hypocrisy at its worst. I remember watching and switching off the TV and feeling disgusted for her fans. What she essentially said or rather nodded and stayed silent whilst Stephen Chan filled in the blanks to the point he might as well interview himself pretending to be her was essentially not just denial but rather all those nonsense about being the victim, suicidal, etc. I understand her being suicidal but please, playing the victim card was her worst move. She should have just stop at I was young, I was in love, I was stupid, I want to move on. I remember she touched on how her image as TWINS was concocted by her management team, something she didn’t feel was the truth but didn’t do anything else. So all those cutesy, innocent, disneyland stuff.. all were pack of lies. I was thinking and I am sorry for my language “So with Edison she finally revealed and unleashed her true slutty self is that it?”. I felt disgusted for her fans and how utterly stupid her answers were. No guessing how that interview DID not help her comeback and I believe a majority of the audiences still feel that way. Those who doesn’t probably should really read between the lines of what she DIDN’T say.
Which is why Cecilia recovered quickly. Not because she has children. Not really because of Nicholas or her in laws. But herself. She sat there, she took full responsibility, she didn’t deny, she didn’t blame anyone else, at least in that interview she didn’t say she wanted to die, etc. I find her gutsy honesty which she displayed in her past helped her in that revealing interview. Yes, she did blame the media for a lot of things in the past which in retrospect was hypocrisy but she redeemed herself by appearing humbled and mature.
Gillian was otherwise. Moreover that other scandal which wasn’t her fault, I believe the whole Genting incident (but later wasn’t genting I read?) was still fresh in people’s mind as to how she cried and bemoaned her fate. Whoever took her secret pictures was wrong and I know there shouldn’t be a connection between that and Edison but truth is audiences were shocked how she cried over revealing her bra jumped to a series of pictures over time of her revealing much much more. Cecilia had it easy in the sense she was a bad girl sort of image. But the fact remains, how do you redeem your reputation in the eyes of the viewers? Crying about it isn’t the way. Cecilia certainly showed a lot of people how to redeem your honour by being dignified but brutally honest about it.
Don’t think I like the way Jayne compares Cecilia to Angelina. I don’t think Angelina has a motive to do charity work to boot her public image. Do some research before said it. She and Brad have done a lot of charity work (money and time). they don’t need to use their children to for pictures or money. They have enough that when they make movies.
Even now they are very busy with their movie projects they still can balance their charity work and their time with their kids and their kids always have a happy normal time like other kids.
Cecilia is not fit to be compare to Angelina.
JN…you’re the one who should do research before you speak. Do you know how many negative articles have been written about Angelina and her “charities” in American newspapers. Yup, legit newspapers not the National Enquirer, Globe, etc. To me, a true humanitarian is someone who doesn’t go on CNN to brag to Anderson Cooper that she donates 33% of her income to charities. A true humanitarian never expects anything in return because he/she is doing everything altruistically. I know lots of people who don’t make $20 million dollars a movie and yet they donate 100% of their income to great causes and they’re not recognized by the media, public, etc. because they chose to remain anonymous. Those are the true humanitarians. For example, I have more respect for one of Oprah’s guest. The episode aired 1-2 years ago so I might not have all the details but it’s about a woman in her 40s in Africa. She has taken in or adopted approximately 40 HIV+ kids. And she doesn’t make much, like a few dollars a day. That’s impressive…unlike Angelina “requesting” for a “healthy” child to be adopted in Viet Nam. Angelina sold her baby pictures to People for money…if she really wanted to donate money to charities, the money should have been from her pocket…definitely not from People in her honor. There’s a difference.
I agree with Trang. I think a true hero and humanitarian doesn’t need to brag about all the good deeds and charitable things they have done. They do it silently and instead, people in their communities acknowledge them and bring it to the media’s attention. Nobody is doubting that Angelina or Cecilia are good mothers, it’s just that they expose their children to the media l lot. I know Nic is very against Lucas in joining the entertainment industry, but because they’re always showing their motherly/fatherly love in public quite often, I feel that Lucas is already becoming a child star and liking the attention. If they want to protect their children from the limelight, they should be more low-key. And I don’t mean the paparazzi taking pics of them when they are going out, but like Cecila taking Lucas with her to do interviews, having him on stage with her when she is to appear on TV. We don’t see as much pics of Eason’s daughter, or Chilam’s son, or other babies as much as we do from Nic and Cecilia’s, but I’m sure they are great parents as well.
But, I do agree that the audience has accepted Cecilia’s return more than Gillian’s not only because she has shown that she is more responsible mother and individual, but also because in her interviews, she doesn’t act like she is the victim. She knows that she is equally responsible since she agreed to take the pictures. And it helped that she did not have a fabricated “sweet, innocent” image that Gillian had when she clearly wasn’t. Cecilia was always herself and people knew that she was not a pure, innocent, soft spoken girl anyway. So I think that people accepted Cecilia’s apology more in that she seemed more sincere in her speech.
I read in a magazine that Angelina’s own biological child was in counselling because she loves her adopted children more. Read it in one magazines at the hospital (don’t know it’s tabloid or not). The topic is celebrity children who are in counselling.
I feel very very sorry for Shiloh when I read the article. If your biological mother can loves you adopted siblings more than you, who else can you turn to for love?
And I’m sick of celebrities going to poor countries to adopt children back home in a high profile way. US have a lot of orphans that need parents too. If these celebs are really caring, why don’t they adopt kids in their own country?
On Nic and Cecilia, I think it’s only Cecilia (and Patrick from his speech) who was pushing Lucas to the limelight. It’s always Cecilia who was bringing Lucas around for interviews and stuff.
I don’t think Angelina Jolie did boast about her humanitarian efforts. She seems genuine and not a ploy to divert attention. Her stint at Cambodia really changed her for the better and although moneys should come from own pocket, the power of celebrities and their fame is their involvement will inevitably prove better than just giving money. Some celebrities do give money, quietly and I applaud them like Sandra Bullock and her USD1million for the tsunami tragedies I believe but Angelina Jolie chose to take an active participation in her charitable works.
Angelina doesn’t expose her children at all, but photographers chose to follow her. You know who exposes their children deliberately? Tom Cruise and his Suri Cruise.
I don’t doubt Angelina Jolie’s bad past, how she matured by adopting Maddox and how much she loves her children as well as being passionate about her concerns and charity, so I don’t see why diss one over the other. Angelina and Cecilia shares no similarities except for being mothers and having an interesting past.
As for Angelina selling baby pictures for money, the logic is simple. The papparazzis will hound them till death for the photos. So why not make some money and she did donate all that money to charity. And wanting a healthy child is not a sin. By extending her love to an orphaned child from another country, she is actually showing her capacity to love. That kid adopted by her is extremely lucky. Who knows she might have donated a whole lot more for schools etc ala Bae Youngjun but didn’t adopt more. That doesn’t negate what she did is good. Yes there are many humanitarians but just because she is not suffering with dirt cheap pays each day taking care of 1000 abused animals or 10000 HIV positive kids makes her a fake one. Charities comes in big and small. As long as her heart is sincere I do not doubt her passion in what she is doing. Angelina Jolie may be pretty screwed up in the past, or she may be questionable even now but at the very least she is using her fame to bring attention to important things.
Since Oprah is quoted, I don’t see Oprah doing much in proportion to her immense wealth.
For me it doesn’t matter if you donate 100% or you do it quietly or you talk about it or you donate grudgingly, the fact remains you donated. And that to me earns my respect. If she earns good publicity for her “kindness” well, she deserves it.
Kidd I agree that she loves Maddox the most. Very very obvious whilst Brad Pitt loves Shiloh the most. If it is true that she is in counselling, poor kid. But parents do play favourites sometime. It is bad because she neglects her child but yet it is good because she loves someone else’s child more than her own flesh and blood.
“I don’t see Oprah doing much in proportion to her immense wealth.”
How do you know? Maybe she is. Just because other humanitarians do not get as much publicity for their humanitarian work does not mean that they are doing less. Likewise, just because Angelina’s humanitarian work is getting more publicity does not mean she is doing more than others.
Funn, I like your analysis. You write quite well, and think very logically.
Here is an interesting NY Times article about Angelina’s carefully constructed public image:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/business/media/21angelina.html
Undoubtedly, Angelina is active in her charities and has donated millions to those in need. I have no doubt that she cares about humanitarian causes to dedicate so much of her time.
However, there are always two sides of a coin. As a very successful A-list actress, Angelina is very aware of the importance of a positive public image. The article points to instances when Angelina has granted interviews under her own terms: the tabloids must mention her charity work. Or informing tabloids the time and location when she adopted Maddox, so that there would be guaranteed coverage. Perhaps it’s to generate increased public awareness for these charitable causes. At the same time, Angelina benefits from the positive buzz.
Funn, you’re right that Cecilia’s successful comeback was her taking responsibility for her past actions. She’s a strong woman and not someone to crumble under pressure. On the other hand, Gillian may project the “victim” stance perhaps she believed she was a victim in the photo scandal.
I think comparing Angelina and Cecilia is like comparing apples and bananas. They are both fruits, but not the same. Angelina might use publicity, etc. to make money, but the money goes to good causes. Cecilia, on the other hand, seems to want to repair her public image so that she can get back to making money to support her and her families expensive lifestyle. I was watching a news segment that references how Cecilia needs to support her family and their lifestyle and since Deborah Lee forbids her from using Nic’s money, she has to make it herself. Angelina talks about her charitable causes, etc., so that she can bring attention to these causes. She seems to want to make people aware. I’m sure she probably stages things here and there, but that’s the publicity machine at work. Cecilia cried on TV about being stronger after her sex pictures are exposed. If she says she’ll spend more time after this reflecting and doing charity, then that’s a different story, but she’s out flaunting her oldest son, Lucas and sharing family pictures and now she’s back to accepting movies, etc. and making money. I really don’t see how that is the same as Angelina Jolie. Jolie may have also had a troubled past, but she’s a different person now and she’s trying to do her part to make this world a better place. While Cecilia is a……..good mother?
THanks for your message Funn. I agree with you and I also don’t doubt Angelina’s bad past, but the past is the past. It is good that she has changed for the better. Also, since Angelina is already famous and has a lot of money, why would she even need to use publicity to make more money? She uses the money for good causes too. Since she is famous and known all over the world, how can she even hide anything that she does?? Regardless of whether she is doing things for publicity or not, she is doing a lot of charitable things and deserves the good publicity for it.
However, I feel that Cecilia is just making money to fuel her expensive family lifestyle more than to help anyone. I personally don’t see that many similarities to Angelina and Cecilia besides the fact that they are both actresses and mothers. Therefore, I don’t see the need to compare them.
I also want to add that it doesn’t matter when they donate money whether it comes from their own pocket or not. When celebrities donate their talent, time and use their star power to encourage others to donate and do good things, I think that is just as good. In Angelina’s case, for example, when she sells her children’s pictures, she gets lots of money from them but then she donates it all. Therefore, it is now her money and she could have just pocketed it but she doesn’t, so I don’t see what is the difference between her donating out of her own pocket versus giving out other “money” that she makes.
I also sense that she seems to love Maddox the most, but not sure. However, maybe she does because he was her first one ever. After her divorce with her other husband(sorry I forgot his name), it just was her and Maddox. She then traveled the world with him as a single mom, therefore, that may be one of the reasons why she loves him the most(if she really does). I do feel sorry for Shiloh because she seems to be neglected by her mother. I even read a tabloid that said that Angelina was jealous of Shiloh, but then again it was one of those fake Globe type of magazines.
To Trang,
Where did you hear that Angelina requested a healthy child?? I am not sure about Pax(the Viet one), but I heard that her other daughter, Zahara was NOT healthy and had to be hospitalized when she first adopted her. Therefore, I don’t see how she requested a healthy child each time. Also, who said that Angelina boosts about her humanitarian efforts? I don’t feel that she is. I feel that she is trying to bring more attention to them so that people don’t just live in their little comfort bubble and can be more aware of the tragedies in the world. She is a famous actress so how can she avoid being in the limelight when she does anything?? A lot of other artists help out as well and everyone eventually finds out whether they state their name or not because they are in the circle. When you are in the circle, it is hard to stay out of the limelight…
Andy Lau does a lot of charity work and all too, but I don’t think his intention is to show off or boost about it. If everyone that thought way then who would want to even help out anyone or do any charity work??
great applause to Funn Lim. This is exactly what i want to say about the BradAnglina’s family.
Sometimes, within the family you can’t just stop loving your adopt children when you have your own child. That will be a disaster and those adopt kids will show resentful to the biological kids.
To me I saw she loves them all. Some family always show more attention to the 1st born than the 2nd one. That is just normal.
Each and every time when there is a disaster strike, she and Brad always wrote their personal check to donate to the charity first then they will join others continue to raise more.
I just didn’t understand why this article start to compare Cecelia to Angelina when they share none of the similarity except both are actress and mother.
Jayne regarding to the link you post, i don’t see anything wrong or negative about her. It just praises her about her negotiate skills when selling about those pictures, which all the money goes to the charities. What’s wrong with that? Correct me if I am wrong, didn’t Tiger Wood doing the same thing selling pictures to the People Magazine when his wife gave birth to a boy. I don’t hear anything about the money he collected goes to charity and he is richest athlete, almost a billionaire.
I don’t really care about her past, don’t everyone have a past. We are all human, not angel of course we do make mistake. The great thing about it if you correct it and led a good meaningful life then that is all it counts. Who cares about others think.
JN
“Sometimes, within the family you can’t just stop loving your adopt children when you have your own child. That will be a disaster and those adopt kids will show resentful to the biological kids.”
I don’t mean Angelina should stop loving her adopted children when she has her own. I feel sorry for Shiloh that her own biological mother loves her adopted siblings more than her. I never said Angelina should stop loving her adopted kids after she has Shiloh.
“Cecilia, on the other hand, seems to want to repair her public image so that she can get back to making money to support her and her families expensive lifestyle. I was watching a news segment that references how Cecilia needs to support her family and their lifestyle and since Deborah Lee forbids her from using Nic’s money, she has to make it herself. “
I will take this news with a grain of salt. The media always like to paint Deborah in a bad light. Also, I believe Nic has a mind of his own. He appears to be a very responsible husband and father. I don’t believe he will blindly listen to the demand of his mother if it’s too unreasonable. I don’t believe Deborah has such great hold on him.
People always question why camera always around Angelina Jolie when she does charible work? To answer that question, well! She is an UN ambassador, her job is to bring attention, justice and awareness to people around the world about the disasters, the unfortunate and the neglected of the society. She’s been doing this for more than 9 years and she has been to many places including the war torn territories, the most poverty place that any of us dare to put a foot on. Angelina Jolie is very genius about her charible work, not only she donate money, but she puts all of her afford, her time, and her energy to the causes. She is not just give money and work away, but she revisited to those places that need more attention and more help and she is making sure that are not forgotten. She is also think of the ways to help the unfortunate and disable to be able to stand on their own and can be able to help themselves and their family them all the aid from others are no longer available by building school for children, vocational school for adult where they can gain the skill set for jobs, she built health care clinic to help the aids patients in Cambodia and Ethopia….etc….and the countless charity works that she’s been done and doing now and many more in the future. I’m thankful every day to have a human being like her that doing so many good things to others…I wish people quit questioning and judging about her charity works and get more involve…every donation is count whether is big or small, time or money.
You made some good points ThanksFunnLim. I don’t think Angelina would need to do all that work just to get attention or positive publicity. There are a lot of other rich people and actors/actresses that don’t do much even though they have a lot of money. As some of you have mentioned, she doesn’t just give money. She actually goes there and DOES things which is what many people don’t really do. Many rich people may donate money, but they would not even dare go to any of the areas that she goes to. I find that really brave and kind of her to do that since I don’t think many people with her status and wealth would be able to do that.
@Funn,
I forgot to say that while it is true that it is good to donate, but I think if you do it grudgingly or unhappily then that is also not a good thing. When you donate, you should do it happily and not out of obligation or for a bad reason.
Donate w/o any expectations.
I volunteer a lot and I always expect the people receiving help to be thankful of my contributions. Unfortunately that’s not always the case … due to their background and experience, a lot of them are not as courteous. Of course, it’s not a fault of theirs.
Anyway – I could careless if Angelina is trying to to be a good Samaritan for other motives. The bottom line is – it’s a win-win situation. It’s not like my life is in ruin because Angelina is fake.
Sorry guys, I typed my message from my iPhone and just realized that I made so many mistakes and typo:-(
Regaining your mojo == spending PR money. simple.