Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is suing a US-based Chinese online news outlet over claims that she was a prostitute who had sex with top official Bo Xilai and others, a lawyer said on Wednesday.
The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star is taking legal action for libel in Los Angeles over the claims by Boxun News, which is based in North Carolina and offers Chinese- and English-language news online.
“At the heart of all of the claims are a series of libellous defamatory statements printed by Boxun News about Zhang Ziyi,” said attorney Adam LeBerthon, of the law firm representing the actress.
“Boxun News printed repeatedly that Zhang Ziyi is a prostitute, and that’s the heart of our allegations. She does not know [Bo], has not met him and has nothing whatsoever to do with him.”
The lawsuit, obtained by AFP, said Boxun News claimed that Zhang earned over US$100 million for having sex with Chinese officials and others, in news reports in May and June this year which were republished by media around the world.
“But none of the underlying reports are true, and Boxun News never had any legitimate basis to publish them. It never contacted Ms Zhang before it published the reports to confirm any of the alleged ‘facts’,” it noted.
The US lawsuit came after Zhang launched legal action in June against Hong Kong’s leading newspaper the Apple Daily and its sister weekly Next Magazine over reports that she prostituted herself with senior Chinese officials.