SINGAPORE, May 21 — The former assistant of Singaporean actress Eleanor Lee has issued a public apology for fabricating audio recordings of the star, in what she admitted was an attempt to pressure her former company into paying compensation.
Lee, the daughter of veteran Mediacorp host Quan Yifeng, had earlier found herself embroiled in controversy after audio clips surfaced online in which she was allegedly heard insulting Chinese nationals. The recordings drew backlash across Chinese social media platforms.
In a Weibo post today, Lee’s management agency China Artiste Management confirmed that the recordings were doctored by the assistant, following a police investigation.
The agency said the incident stemmed from a personal dispute and denounced the assistant’s actions as a serious infringement of Lee’s rights.
A Weibo user going by the name “Xiaopang”, who identified herself as Lee’s former assistant, released a statement of apology on the same day. Her post was reshared on the official page of Lee’s agency.
“After being educated and corrected by the police, I realised that the act of maliciously editing, synthesising, and fabricating recordings of Li Kaixin ‘insulting the Chinese people’ and other acts of spreading false information are against the law, and have caused serious reputational damage to Li Kaixin,” she wrote, referring to Lee by her Chinese name.
The user added that she recognised her mistake and apologised to the actress, whom she described as “positive, hardworking and talented”.
She denied that Lee had ever expressed disapproval of China or made the offensive remarks circulated online.
In her statement, the user said she had worked as Lee’s personal assistant from 2017 to 2019 at a Beijing-based media firm.
After being let go in 2019, she claimed to have had ongoing disputes with the company and felt she was treated “unfairly”.
Before leaving, she secretly recorded conversations with Lee and later manipulated the clips to use in her compensation demands, which she continued to pursue over the next five years.
Failing to reach a settlement and having been blocked by the company’s representative, the assistant admitted that she “lost control of her emotions” in 2024 after seeing updates about one of the agency’s artistes.
In July that year, she circulated the altered audio clips online “to vent her anger” and fabricated additional content “on impulse”.
She said she did not anticipate the extent of harm caused to Lee and asked for forgiveness.
“In the three years I worked at the company, I saw Li Kaixin’s growth, and witnessed the efforts she has put in,” the user wrote.
“She never expressed disapproval towards China or the Chinese people, and did not, nor could have said the insulting words towards Chinese people that appeared in the edited and synthesised recordings I made of her.”
Lee, who gained prominence in China after starring in an Apple China commercial in 2015, has built a successful career across Chinese TV series such as Solas Bistro (2017), My Poseidon (2019), and My Love, Enlighten Me (2020).
Her role in the 2020 film The Enchanting Phantom, a remake of the 1987 classic A Chinese Ghost Story, also garnered significant attention.
However, the recent scandal has affected her future projects.
Lee was reportedly set to star in the upcoming Chinese period drama The Journey of Legend, based on a novel by Malaysian author Woon Swee Oan.
Filming for the series wrapped up in October 2024, but following the uproar, Lee’s name was allegedly removed from the cast list.
