TAIPEI • The mystery over Edison Chen's recent online attacks on supermodel Chiling Lin was lifted on Sunday when a Beijing man said he fabricated the untruth that started it all.

Actor Chen, 35, had been disparaging Lin, 41, online, reportedly because he believed Lin had prevented his girlfriend, model Shu Pei Qin, from being cast in the reality show Hey Muse, alongside Lin.

But the Beijing man, who goes by the Weibo name Gentlemanly Scent, said he was the one who cooked up the lie about Lin's involvement. He said he freelances for variety shows and, a month ago, he recommended some models, including Qin, to Hey Muse's producers for the show.

He said that, when Qin, 25, later quizzed him on why she was not eventually picked for the show, he unthinkingly laid the blame on Lin, in order to shirk responsibility.

He admitted he was the man heard in a taped recording telling Qin that Lin's camp did not want her in the show. Gentlemanly Scent, who apologised to Lin and the show producers repeatedly, posted his statement after the recording was released on Sunday.

On Sunday, Chen appeared unappeased. On Weibo, he posted a picture of a ram captioned "Scapegoat" in English, seeming to hint that someone was taking the blame for Lin. He wrote: "Comrade! You've worked hard! Auntie Lin would be satisfied!"