As long as you don’t want or welcome it, any physical or verbal advance in a sexual manner is considered sexual harassment. Taiwanese YouTuber Lyla Ho (蕾菈) apparently is guilty of such.
Streamer and host Chang Chia-Hang (张嘉航) aka “Asian God” shared he was once kissed by YouTuber Lyla Ho during a show. However, he had not asked for the kiss, nor had he wanted it. As he felt uncomfortable with the kiss, Chia-Hang recently claimed that Lyla had sexually harassed him.
During his latest live stream, Chang Chia-Hang brought up a rather heavy topic. He started discussing sexual harassment issues that had been popping up recently. However, the topic apparently reminded his fans of a past incident involving Chia-Hang.
It didn’t take long for netizens to start asking Chia-Hang if he had been uncomfortable when Lyla Ho forced a kiss on him during an online show three years ago. Apparently, he’d voted for Lyla during the show and she had surprised him when she hugged and kissed him on the cheek. Chia-Hang had immediately pushed Lyla away, raised his hand and told her: “Don’t randomly touch me,” without looking at her.
Chia-Hang recently shared that the incident had made him uncomfortable and that he felt sexually harassed. He also shared that he hadn’t understood why Lyla had wanted to have physical contact with him, adding that he felt disadvantaged as a guy. “Sometimes girls touch my stomach, cheast and buttocks. If you sue (them), do you think the judge will (be fair)?” he asked. “Sexual harassment is more beneficial to girls. Sometimes, there really is no way.”
Lyla Ho has since publicly apologised for her actions via her socials. “I hereby sincerely apologise for kissing “The God of Asia— Chang Chia-Hang” on the cheek three years ago, which made you feel uncomfortable and sexually harassed,” she wrote.
“Because it’s been a long time since the program was recorded, I can’t remember all the details. I only remember that because of your melancholy eyes, stubble and handsome face, I was distracted and infatuated,” she explained. “In the future, I will do everything possible to stay away from “Asian God-Chang Chia-Hang” and his relatives to avoid any harassment.”
Lyla added that she had not had a boyfriend while filming the show. She also claimed that she had only acted as such due to the show’s atmosphere. However, netizens have not been happy with her apology. Some claim her apology was not sincere.
“The top three lines are fine, the rest is (too much),” one stated. “If those boys who are being questioned about harassment now also apologize with this attitude, they (will) be kicked off,” another opined. A few even felt she was making light of the issue by taking advantage of her gender.
Chang Chia-Hang has not commented further on the issue, nor has he responded to Lyla Ho’s apology. However, it seems netizens are unwilling to let the matter go on his behalf. Well, we aren’t sure what will become of the issue, but we do hope others will continue to recognise sexual harassment and call people out on it.
