Gillian Chung's Stage Debut Marks Comeback from Sex Scandal

Hong Kong singer Gillian Chung made her stage debut Thursday in a Cantonese production of the Neil Simon comedy I Ought to Be in Pictures financed by her management company.

The performance in front of a near-capacity audience at a 1,200-seat theater at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts was Chung’s first public stage appearance since launching her comeback bid five months ago.

Gillian Chung became the more notorious half of the popular female duo Twins after photos of her in bed with Edison Chen surfaced online last year. She was one of the biggest Hong Kong female stars sidelined by the Edison Chen sex photos scandal.

The scandal did severe damage to Chung’s career due to the squeaky clean image she had cultivated. A post-scandal TV appearance prompted over 500 complaints to the station and 1200 to Hong Kong Broadcasting Authority. In addition to numerous cancellations of promotional events that provide a large part of the incomes of Hong Kong celebrities, Chung was dropped from the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony by director Zhang Yimou. Her film performances were deleted from Chen Kaige’s Forever Enthralled and Oliver Stone’s W..

It wasn’t until March of 2009 that Chung first ventured back into the public eye as a spokesperson for TOUGH Jeansmith in the Asia region on a seven-figure contract.