Billionaire Mark Chan Pulls Ads From TVB After Being Asked To Keep Away From Rumoured Girlfriend Ali Lee At Press Conference
Earlier this week, it was reported that TVB actress Ali Lee, 39, has been secretly seeing billionaire businessman Mark Chan, 52 for more than a year. Mark, who’s also known as Hongkong’s ‘King of Cordyceps’, is said to be smitten by Ali, and had pulled out all the stops to woo her.
The couple were previously caught up in dating rumours in November last year when they were spotted together at the Ritz Carlton Hongkong. At that time, both parties said they were merely meeting up to discuss work .
This time round, when Mark spoke to the media, he admitted that he hopes to take their relationship to the next level.
However, Ali then released a statement, asserting that she is not in a relationship with Mark, adding that there is no room for further development between the two of them.
A very star-studded press conference
Originally, Ali was scheduled to attend a press conference for a NFT launch by Mark’s company, along with a number of other TVB artistes yesterday (Jan 26).
But her appearance was cancelled at the last minute, with her colleagues Louise Wong, 31, Sheldon Lo, 33, and Jacky Cai, 33, showing up in her place.
Mark, who was present at the event, explained the reason for Ali’s absence, revealing that TVB had made a number of “unreasonable requests”.
According to Mark, TVB contacted him a day before the press conference with a list of conditions that he would have to abide by if Ali turned up.
Mark spoke to the media alone at the press conference
Not only was Mark not allowed to accept interviews with Ali, he was also banned from taking any photos with the actress alone. They would also have to keep away from each other when taking group photos.
Mark said that he felt “disrespected” by the requests, and that he contacted Ali privately to ask if she had requested for these restrictions.
“She did not reply me at first, but later told me through the phone that it was TVB’s decision. I felt very disrespected, so I didn’t use Ali [for the press conference],” Mark said.
He went on to reveal that he has sent a letter of complaint to TVB, and that he will be pulling all his advertisements from the station.
Just friends, okay?
“As a customer who spends over ten million in advertisement fees yearly, I feel like receiving such treatment is basically an insult,” Mark said. He added that he’s waiting for a response from TVB executive Virginia Lok.
Mark’s lawyer later confirmed that they had indeed sent out a letter to TVB, and that they hope for the issue to be resolved quickly.
Finally, Mark also responded to Ali’s statement where she denied their relationship.
“As I said before, it does not matter what she says. This is my principle. Please don’t hurt her, she’s a good person,” he said, at the same time referring to Ali as his “good friend”.
Photos: Ali Lee/Instagram, Media Outreach, Oriental Daily
