Jacky Wu speaks at a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, Nobember 17, 2009. [Photo: icpress.cn]
Taiwan's "king of entertainment" Jacky Wu plans to sue the local China Times Weekly (CTW) magazine for allegedly misreporting that he borrowed 500 million New Taiwan dollars, or about 15.6 million U.S. dollars from illegal money lenders.
A report on the website Sina.com said the TV host held a press conference with his lawyer on Tuesday before taping one of his variety shows. At the conference, Wu demanded that CTW issue a correction within three days.
Wu has signed a petition for redress and is ready to submit it to the court at any time, his lawyer said. But the compensation amount has yet to be determined based on the outcome of the matter. Wu would donate all money awarded to charities, his lawyer said.
CTW reported in its Nov. 13 issue that Wu had to borrow money to solve financial problems at H&T Electronics Co., Ltd. of Taiwan, where he is chairman of the board. But Wu indicated that the company's capital amounted to 10.9 million U.S. dollars and that it was impossible for him to borrow such a huge amount of money at a cost of 1.4 million U.S. dollars of interest per month.
In response, CTW said it conducted due diligence as part of its report and that it respected Wu's legal right to file a lawsuit.
Wu, one of the most popular and richest entertainers in Taiwan, has been known to make investments in various sections, including real estate and record labels. He took over as the chairman of H&T Electronics in June.
