Hong Kong singer Eason Chan (陳奕迅) has been delighting fans with his recent world tour “Fear and Dreams”, his latest stop being San Francisco. However, one fan’s concert experience was ruined after a staff member of Eason’s concert organiser allegedly sexually harassed her.
A netizen who goes by “正义螺蛳粉” recently took to her Weibo to expose the staff member, claiming she had been volunteering to help out at Eason Chan’s concert from 18th to 22nd September. Unfortunately, the staff had apparently used his status to take advantage of her instead.
The netizen broke the news yesterday (8th October), detailing how a staff member of Eason Chan’s world tour concert organiser had harassed her when they arrived in San Francisco. Allegedly, she had joined as a volunteer as she was a fan of Eason Chan. Unexpectedly, it became “the nightmare of (her) life”.
“While at work, I was sexually harassed by a male staff member of the organiser (星煌娛樂, Xing Huang Entertainment Ltd.). This incident caused great mental (distress) to me and the person who violated me showed no sincere remorse,” she stated.
Reportedly, the netizen had received a call from the staff member in question on 20th September, asking her to pick him up from the airport and bring him on a tour around San Francisco. She had initially assumed it was an assignment, albeit an odd one. However, things got stranger when she realised the trip would only include him and her, and not a group, as she expected.
The staff asked her to bring him to shop and have dinner at a local mall. She agreed but was caught off guard when they were shopping for clothes alone during the trip. “(He) started to look at various clothes and asked for my opinion. After my perfunctory answer, he said: “You look like my girlfriend”. I felt very uncomfortable and asked him to stop saying such things,” she shared.
Unfortunately, he did not respect her request. The staff member continued to harass her by pressuring her to drink with him, even touching her and speaking inappropriately with her when they were in the car. Things came to a head when he grabbed her arm in the car and asked her to sleep with him that night. The netizen stated the action had blindsided her as previously, he had been polite to her and had not acted out of the ordinary.
“I felt sick and confused. I didn’t know how to deal with it at all. I didn’t sleep that night after returning home,” she said. The netizen added that as a volunteer, she worked for free out of love for the job but this was too much. “Am I supposed to sleep with (a staff of) the organiser? What is the job content of a volunteer?” she questioned sardonically.
After much distress, she finally contacted the organisers to let them know what had happened. To her horror, their response was less than satisfactory. Her contact which got her the volunteer job merely told her the staff who had sexually harassed her had offered monetary compensation for her troubles. The company on the other hand did not formally apologise, nor did they reimburse her expenses incurred during the concert.
Xing Huang Entertainment Ltd. later told her that “the employee involved has been fired” but took no further action. After her public address of the issue on Weibo, the company released a statement claiming that the staff responsible was not in fact a staff at all, but another volunteer. They have also promised to cooperate with the involved parties to resolve the issue. Additionally, the staff released an official apology under the company’s name.
However, 正义螺蛳粉 feels they are dodging the issue. The staff’s apology to her has also incensed her as he claimed he felt they “had a close relationship” and that his actions were merely “a joke“. As such, she has also released footage of her dash cam which recorded their conversation in the car. She also explained she is reluctant to report the incident to the police as the issue crosses state and border boundaries.
Netizens have since rallied behind her, with many praising her courage to go public with the issue. Several have also expressed disgust towards the man and his actions. We too hope the matter will be dealt with appropriately and we are even more sorry the man took advantage of her love for Eason Chan to prey on her.
Watch the recording here:
@hypemalaysia A volunteer of #EasonChan #陳奕迅 ‘s recent concert in North America was left horrified after a staff of the concert organiser sexually harassed her.
Sources: Weibo (1)(2), China Press, Oriental Daily
