Leehom Wang Quashes Persistent Gay Rumors

Taiwanese American pop star Leehom Wang wrote a Weibo post to deny that he and classical pianist Li Yundi are in a romantic relationship after the rumors reached a fever pitch during a recent performance by Li.

“I would not have wanted to write this on Weibo since it is too silly!” wrote Wang, 36, in his January 3 post. “But there have been too many rumors, so I decided to write the news myself to avoid a misunderstanding. I am straight, and Yundi loves women. So what exactly is this ‘Hom-Di’? Perhaps it is only joking, merely entertainment gossip, but I still hope that people can tell what is true and what is nonsense! Sorry, I have a straight personality. I take news about myself seriously.”

Wang’s post appears to have been prompted by a Li solo performance in Beijing of “Luo Ye Gui Gen” (“Fallen Leaves Return to Their Roots”). The song is said to have been the first performed together by Li and Wang. Further fueling rumors of a Wang-Li relationship —dubbed “Hom-Di” in fan shorthand — was the photo of Li and Wang that flashed on the backdrop during Li’s performance. That provoked impassioned fan cries of, “Be together! There is love!”

On the 4th Li, 30, followed up with a Weibo post of his own.

“We are good buddies. I am sure we both love women, hope people will stop guessing and making up stories. Thank you for concern and support.”

Wang and Li have been friends for several years, but the Hom-Di rumors appear to have begun surfacing after the duo performed together at last year’s CCTV Lunar New Year’s Gala. The duo can take much of the blame (or credit) for the rumors, however. They were spotted and photographed holding hands in October at A-mei’s new pub. Then, during Thanksgiving weekend, Wang had dinner with Li and his family. The same weekend the pair were spotted sitting together in a theater screening Ang Li’s Life of Pi.

The rumors appear to have been fanned in part by gay fans — dubbed “Homdi-shippers” — eager to see the duo recognized as a couple. They expended untold energies posting images or tidbits to “document” the duo’s “true love.” The rumors have had an explosive PR impact on the duo. Wang’s Weibo following jumped tenfold to 27 million on the strength of Hom-Di rumors.

Li did nothing to dispel the rumors in an interview with Southern Metropolis Weekly. He may even have fanned them.

“Personally, I think Leehom and I do share a lot of sparks through our music,” Li said. “We are also great friends. I’ve known Leehom since 2007. Since he is also very familiar with classical music, we clicked fast. We have many topics to talk about, not only privately, but also through our professional careers as well.”

This isn’t the first time Wang has had to deny rumors of a gay romance. In October 2006 Wang denied persistent rumors about his sexual orientation with an angry press conference in which he declared, “This is bullshit!”

Yet at a September concert in Hong Kong Wang was kissed full on the lips by Jackie Chan after Wang had sung “Kiss Goodbye”. But other than joking allusions to possible jealousy by Li, the kiss didn’t trigger any rumors about a possible Chan-Wang romance.

While rumors about his relationship with Li have dominated the press about Wang lately, for several years he was romantically linked to the popular actress and model Shu Qi. Wang is rumored to have been pressured by his mother to break up with her last April because of her early years as a soft-porn model and actress. Wang has also been linked to aboriginal Taiwanese pop singer Amei Chang Hui Mei who is four years older than him.

Li achieved fame at the age of 18 as the youngest performer to win the prestigious Chopin Competition held in Poland.