Celebrities like to make headlines, because that's what makes them celebrities. But the headlines made in Hong Kong and around the world early this year by some of the city's top entertainment stars were ones they would rather not have made.
The saga that became known as the Edison Chen Koon-hei sex photos scandal has faded from the front pages, but its effects are still being felt by Chen and the string of female stars with whom he was shown performing sex acts in hundreds of pictures widely circulated on the internet and published, crudely censored, in some Hong Kong newspapers.
It has jeopardised the careers of those involved and has shaken the entertainment industry, which has been suffering from a shortage of up-and-coming young stars.
The shocking and explicit photos dominated headlines for nearly a month. The celebrities included Gillian Chung Yan-tung of the girl duo Twins, actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi, former actress Bobo Chan Man-woon, model-actress Rachel Ngan Wing-sze, former singer Candice Chan Si-wai, 2001 Miss Chinese International contestant Mandy Chen Yu-ju and the singer-actor's girlfriend, Vincy Yeung Wing-ching, who is tycoon Albert Yeung Sau-shing's niece.
It all started on January 27, when the first batch of photos - at the time described as 'purportedly' of Edison Chen, Chung, Cheung and Bobo Chan performing explicit sexual acts - debuted on an internet forum and were circulated online. Chung's management, Emperor Entertainment Group, condemned the 'malicious act' and claimed that the photographs were digitally manipulated.
However, that did not stop the photographs from spreading, and more appeared on the internet in the following days. At that point, none of the celebrities made any comments and the management companies of Chung and Edison Chen said that they had filed a police report.
The police launched an investigation and got Interpol involved. On January 31, they announced the arrest of unemployed Chung Yik-tin, suspected of distributing the photographs. The same week, they arrested another four men and two women. Computer technician Sze Ho-chun was also arrested at his workplace in Central.