Asia’s Celebrity Scandals

Katrina Halili and Hayden Kho.

1. The Hayden sex video scandal

Who: Katrina Halili, a Filipina actress who was voted FHM Philippines' sexiest woman in 2006 and 2007, and Hayden Kho Jr, celebrity doctor, model and TV star.
What: In late 2008, a sex video of Halili and Kho started appearing online and on street DVDs -- it quickly spread like wildfire. The videos also showed the good-looking Kho with other women.
Then 23, Halili claimed the videos were taken without her knowledge or consent. She said she was only guilty of falling in love with Kho, according to the Manila Bulletin.
The morning after: Claims, counter claims, senate investigations and the loss of a medical license -- the sex scandal had the whole nation talking for the best part of last year with court cases still continuing.
At one point the scandal involved Kho's mother, who accused Halili of drug pushing.
In the end, Halili exacted her revenge. Her complaint led the Professional Regulation Commission to revoke Hayden’s license to practice medicine for “committing immorality as well as dishonorable and unethical conduct.” He was also suspended last September for one year by the Philippine Medical Association “for conduct offensive to the profession.”

The episode also provoked the government to pass anti-voyeurism legislation.

Anya Ayoung-Chee.

2. Who's that girl? Miss Universe sex tape speculation

Who: Anya Ayoung-Chee, Miss Trinidad and Tobago 2008 and incorrect speculation about Hiroko Mima, Miss Japan 2008.
What: This got the Japanese media in a tizz and possibly in all sorts of bother. A threesome sex video surfaced on the Internet last year and Japanese media speculated that Japan's Miss Universe contestant was one of the trio along with Miss T and T and photographer Wyatt Gallery. It turned out to be only half true: the girl mistaken to be Hiroko Mima in the ménage a trios was not the pageant winner, but a lookalike ‘close friend' of Gallery's.
The morning after: Gallery said in a TMZ exclusive that he suspected the tape was leaked after a Trinidad computer shop took his laptop in for repairs. He also planned to sue those who continued to distribute the tape, although copies of it are still popping up online.
Hiroko Mima coached incumbent Miss Japan Emiri Miyasaka for Miss Universe 2009, while Anya Ayoung-Chee continued to work as a model. Mima's management has threatened legal action against those that incorrectly fingered the model as being in the video.

Hoang Thuy Linh.

3. Vang Anh scandal: TV sweetheart shocks nation

Who: Teenager Hoang Thuy Linh, who starred as a virtuous high school girl in the popular TV series "Vang Anh's Diaries."
What: A blurry yet racy video of the 19 year old Thuy Linh in bed with her former boyfriend hit the web in 2007, shocking fans and the rest of conservative Vietnam.
The morning after: It remains the biggest 'virtual scandal' in Vietnamese history. Outrage and criticism from the public and the media caused VTV to promptly pull the plug on the show. But not before Thuy Linh's televised apology: “I made a mistake, a terrible mistake,” she said in her on-air farewell, as the show was dumped. “I apologize to you, my parents, my teachers and my friends.”
Despite the similarities to the Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian sex tapes sagas, for Thuy Linh it seemed to spell the end of her promising career.
But according to the New York Times last year, Thuy Linh was able to turn her bad publicity into a career opportunity.
She transformed her public image from innocent to sexy and is now much in demand for fashion shows, television appearances and advertising, the Times reported Khuat Thu Hong, co-director of the Institute for Social Development Studies in Hanoi, as saying.
And this is leading other Vietnamese actresses and entertainers to post more raunchy images of themselves on the Internet and challenge the country's more conservative values.

Edison Chen and Gillian Chung.

4. Edison Chen’s ‘Sexy Photo Gate'

Who: Hip hop artist Edison Chen and many, many women, including singer and actress Gillian Chung, movie star Cecilia Cheung, former singer-model Bobo Chan, and his current girlfriend, Vincy Yeung.
What: In 2008, some 1,300 photos of Chen getting raunchy with at least six celebrities (in various stages of undress) leaked on the Internet after he took his hard drive to a computer repair shop.
The morning after: Chen, hounded by the Hong Kong Police and relentless media persecution, fled to the United States and announced that he’s putting his entertainment career on hold "indefinitely." He’s since returned to Hong Kong and starred in movie "The Sniper." He broke his silence on the scandal to CNN in an exclusive interview.
After a two-year hiatus, Gillian Chung, who’s on CNNGo’s Hong Kong Hot List, is back with a tougher, sexier image and is currently working on film projects.
Cecilia Cheung, who criticized Chen harshly in interviews after the scandal broke, continued making babies with actor and musician Nicolas Tse.

Chu Mei-feng.

5. Chu Mei-feng: Sex, lies, videotape and politics

Who: Then Taiwanese politician Chu Mei-feng and her married lover.
What: In 2001, Chu’s jealous friend Kuo Yu-ling installed a pinhole camera in her bedroom, recorded Chu’s trysts with her married lover Tseng Chung-ming, and gave the scoop to a tabloid. A VCD of the steamy sessions then quickly circulated in Asia, rocking the Taiwanese psyche.
The morning after: Chu resigned from her post as the head of the Hsinchu municipal Cultural Affairs Department, and announced that she would drop out of public life.
She then thought better of it and cashed in on her notoriety by publishing a biography and staging a concert in Singapore in 2002. She’s currently an anchor at Macau Asia Satellite Television.
Her ex-BFF was slapped with a four year sentence on the counts of violating the privacy law, undermining public morality, and theft and forgery.