Variety show ‘Sing! China’ suspended after Coco Lee’s alleged harassment by production staff
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — The hit reality show Sing! China has suspended its broadcast after being investigated for its production standards.
In a statement on Weibo yesterday (August 25), broadcaster Zhejiang Media Group said it will temporarily suspend show broadcasts to look into the problems that online users have spoken about.
This comes after Zhejiang Media Group launched an investigation on August 20 after a leaked audio clip of the late American-Hong-Kong singer Coco Lee surfaced.
The nine-minute audio clip featured Lee showing her anger after a contestant with a higher score was eliminated and another with a lower score was given a second chance.
The leaked clip of Lee’s emotional rant sparked outrage among fans and online users against the production of Sing! China.
Lee’s former students on the show Wang Zepeng and Zhou Feige confirmed her stories to be true in individual posts on Weibo on August 20.
Zepeng said that Lee suffered a fall onstage because the crew didn’t allow her to stand next to him for support during a performance even after she requested it due to her longtime leg injury.
In the audio clip, Lee described the pain she felt on stage that day as like 'hypothermia'.
Additionally, online users have questioned the show’s legitimacy after a clip of one of its judges Taiwanese singer Wilber Pan’s chair moving against his will went viral.
However, the programme’s production responded that the leaked audio clip was ‘edited’ and any misunderstanding between Lee and the team was solved beforehand.
The singer’s label, Warner Music China, said in a statement on Weibo on August 23 that it will fully cooperate with the show’s investigations to uphold her reputation.
Sing! China is a rebranded version of the singing competition The Voice of China which premiered in July 2012.
Lee struggled with depression for several years and died on July 5 in Hong Kong after a suicide attempt left her in a coma for three days.
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