Beijing tech firm apologises to actor Eddie Peng over gay rumours

SHANGHAI - A firm in China has apologised to Taiwanese actor Eddie Peng for failing to stop rumours of him being gay from spreading on its app.

In January last year, there were several rumours on the Chinese Internet claiming that the 39-year-old was coming out of the closet with Taiwanese actor Danson Tang, 37.

Peng swiftly took to Weibo to refute the rumours, writing in Chinese: "Fake. Stupid. This sucks."

On Thursday (Jan 13), the Eddie Peng Studio posted on Weibo a legal letter from Zhong Lun Law Firm stating it has taken action against firm Beijing Fenmo Technology for failing to stop the rumours from spreading on its social media app, Fenhei.

The studio added that justice has been served and thanked those who have expressed support and concern.

It also posted a letter of apology from Fenmo and a screengrab of the apology that ran in a Chinese newspaper.

Peng rose to fame in the Taiwanese idol drama Tomorrow (2002) and has acted in films such as Unbeatable (2013), To The Fore (2015) and Operation Mekong (2016).

He recently starred in Hong Kong director Ann Hui's romantic film Love After Love with Chinese actress Ma Sichun, adapted from a short story by the late author Eileen Chang.

Peng's good looks have earned him many fans, but he has been private about his love life despite being romantically linked to female celebrities such as singer Lyla Lin as well as actresses Shu Qi and Xu Qing.

He admitted on a Chinese talk show in early 2020 that he has been single for at least five years.