Jackie Chan was slammed by fans online for abandoning his openly gay daughter Etta Ng Chok Lam, in a controversy prompted by a viral video of a movie clip in which he was acting like a loving father.
The situation involving the Hong Kong-born film star, 69, began after a clip of an emotional scene from his new film Ride On circulated. Following the initial positive reaction to the sentimental clip, public opinion shifted as details of the Rush Hour actor’s relationship with his actual daughter emerged – and many were critical of Chan.
‘Jackie Chan disowned his actual daughter for being gay,’ one user said, while another said, ‘He and his daughter are estranged while his she is financially struggling.
Many users expressed their shock at the situation, with one user calling him a ‘horrible father’ while one user vowed never to support Chan ‘or his work ever again.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Chan’s reps for comment on the story.
The latest: Jackie Chan, 69, was slammed by fans online for abandoning his openly gay daughter, in a controversy prompted by a viral video of a movie clip in which he was acting like a loving father. Pictured in the film Ride On with costar Liu Haocun
Etta Ng Chok Lam (R) is Chan’s daughter from a 1999 extramarital affair he admittedly had with beauty pageant queen Elaine Ng Yi-lei
The scene from Ride On depicted Chan playing the role of a retired stuntman and film star named Luo Zhilong (Lao Luo).
In the scene, the character is visibly weepy as he watches a montage of his career with Xiao Bao, a younger woman who is his daughter (played by Liu Haocun) in the storyline.
In the sequence, she asked Chan, ‘Were you in any pain?’ to which he said ‘a lot.’
She replied, ‘Papa, you’re awesome,’ and the two began weeping and embracing.
After the initial reaction to the clip was one of confused sentiment, as people were not generally aware the clip was from a movie.
‘Jackie Chan and his daughter crying while watching some of his old movie scenes is the most wholesome thing you’ll watch today,’ one user said. ‘Thanks for our childhood legend.’
But after the initial reaction, a number of social media user’s brought up the fractured relationship with Etta.
Etta is Chan’s daughter from a 1999 extramarital affair he admittedly had with beauty pageant queen Elaine Ng Yi-lei (as he has been wed to wife Joan Lin since 1982).
The situation involving the Hong Kong-born film star began after a clip of an emotional scene from his new film Ride On circulated
Following the initial reaction to the sentimental clip, public opinion shifted as details of the Rush Hour actor’s relationship with his actual daughter emerged
Chan was ripped by social media users for the situation involving his daughter
He said at the time of the tryst, according to Buzzfeed: ‘I’m not a saint. I’ve done something wrong. I’ve done something that many men in the world have done. Maybe it was a moment of playfulness.’
Chan also touched on the topic in his 2015 book Never Grow Up, as he said he had apologized to his wife and son Jaycee.
Reports in 1999 about the situation indicated that Chan ceased communicating with Elaine Ng Yi-lei upon learning she was expecting a child.
According to Buzzfeed, ‘It is believed that he has never met his daughter, nor offered any financial assistance in her upbringing.
Etta in 2015 told E! News that she and Chan were permanently estranged.
A number of users expressed their shock at the situation via social media
‘He is my biological father but he is not in my life,’ she said. ‘He never existed in my life. I will never regard him as a father. As long as I have my mother with me, I don’t need my father.’
Etta came out as gay in 2017 in an Instagram post, and said in a YouTube video in April of 2018, that she had been shunned by her ‘homophobic parents,’ and had been experiencing homelessness living with her girlfriend.
‘Hi I’m Jackie Chan’s daughter and this is my girlfriend Andi,’ Etta said in the clip. ‘We’ve been homeless for a month due to homophobic parents. We pretty much slept under a bridge, and other things.’
