Actress Zhang Ziyi sues over prostitution reports ‎

GlobalPost

The Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi has sued Hong Kong's leading newspaper for publishing reports that she prostituted herself to senior Chinese officials, including the disgraced top official Bo Xilai.

AFP reports that an article published in the Apple Daily on May 29 alleged Zhang, 33, had collected about 700 million yuan ($110 million) from having sex with other top officials and "unnamed rich persons" over a period of ten years.

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NewsCore says that the Apple Daily picked up on the story from the US-based, Chinese language news website Boxun.com

Zhang, who starred in 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'Memoirs of a Geisha', says the reports were "seriously defamatory" and "false".  She is also suing and the newspaper's sister publication Next Magazine.

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In the complaint filed at the High Court of Hong Kong, Zhang described having suffered "immense grievance and distress" because of the stories, according to Bloomberg.  It added that Zhang had "been subjected to public odium, hatred, contempt and ridicule."

The actress is seeking unspecified libel damages and an injunction to stop the republication of the stories.

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