Wang Leehom scandal: how the singer and actor went from golden boy to social pariah in an instant
- Wang has been engulfed in scandal after his estranged wife made accusations of infidelity and other indiscretions publicly
- ‘I have been your fan since childhood. I never thought you are actually such trash,’ wrote one enraged fan
The 45-year-old Taiwanese-American heartthrob was born into an intellectual family in New York State with his parents both graduating from elite universities in Taiwan. Wang’s two brothers and some of his relatives hold degrees from America’s Ivy League schools.
Graduating from Williams College with a bachelor’s degree and from Berklee College of Music with a master’s degree, Wang started his music career in the 1990s in Taiwan after being spotted by a talent scout.
His R&B music style, infused with jazz, rap and a Chinese flavour, plus his tall and handsome appearance and highly-educated background soon helped him shoot to fame in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
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Wang has received numerous awards for his songs and albums and was one of the most popular stars in the first decade of the 21st century. Some of his top-ranked songs include Dragon’s Successor, Change Yourself, The Only One and The Sun and the Moon in My Heart.
His career has also extended to movies and he has been praised for his performances in Ang Lee’s 2007 film Lust, Caution and 2018 film Forever Young, in which Wang played a Tsinghua University student who joined China’s air force to fight against Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Due to his positive and “sunny” image, Wang frequently appeared as an ambassador in commercials. His longest-running endorsement was for leading mainland water brand Wahaha, which used Wang in its advertisements for 20 years until 2018. The company’s new boss told the media that she dropped Wang at the time as she thought he was “old”.
Over the past two decades, Wang had occasionally been photographed in the company of sex workers, but those scandals never seriously damaged his career because his team swiftly scrubbed references from the internet.
He was fined NT$10,000 (US$360) by the Taipei health authority in September for violating coronavirus control rules by joining a dinner with local celebrities, instead of staying at home for quarantine for another week. Wang later apologised on social media.
