Hong Kong entertainer Edison Chen said on Thursday he was quitting show business indefinitely after admitting here that he had taken the photos embarrassing several well-known starlets that had been leaked to the Internet.

The 27-year-old Canadian-born Chinese said he had come back to Hong Kong to “account for himself and to apologize to those involved in or effected by the scandal”.

“I would like to apologize to all the ladies involved in the scandal and their families for all their sufferings. I am sorry,” the Vancouver native said at a press conference attended by hundreds of media.

It’s amazing how Hong Kong and America differ in regards to sex scandals. In Hong Kong, you lose all face and star power. In America, you instantly become a mega superstar like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian.

So how did they get the pics? According to Sing Pao (translated):
According to an informed source close to the person who was the source of the photographs, several months ago Edison Chen sent his pink Apple Powerbook laptop to a Central computer shop for repairs. The technician made the accidental discovery that there were several hundred photographs and videos of Edison Chen and/pr more than a dozen celebrities/artistes (many of whom were listed by the media and netizens as prime suspects after the first photographs of Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan and Cecilia Cheung appeared), and he downloaded them onto his own computer.

The informed source said that the technician only intended to keep the material for his own enjoyment. Then one day he invited some friends over to his Ma On Shan apartment to play mahjong and he casually mentioned that he had some “good” stuff to show them. When his friends saw the material, they were astonished and lobbied him to post to the Internet. He did not want to do so himself, because he knew that Edison Chen has his contact information. So finally a female friend agreed to undertake the task of posting onto the Internet. That was how it happened.

Edison Chen Ex-Girlfriends