Hong Kong actor Wong Hei apologized on Monday for reportedly posting inappropriate content on social media regarding Hong Kong-mainland ties, following the broadcast of the latest episode of a reality TV show by China Central Television (CCTV) wherein his face was blurred out and several of his scenes were deleted, as reported by the Global Times.
In CCTV's broadcast of "Liaobuqi de tiaozhan" on Sunday, almost all scenes featuring the TV star were cut out. Throughout the one-and-a-half hour program, Wong's face was blurred or pixelated the few times it featured in remaining scenes.
Wong's controversial Facebook posts and shares first gained attention on Dec. 31 when Taiwanese singer Huang An pointed them out on his Sina Weibo account.
Huang, a proud opponent of the Taiwan independence movement, accused Wong of insulting the mainland using his comments on social media despite making money from the mainland. Other screenshots of Wong's Facebook page revealed reposts of sarcastic comments that were critical of mainland China.
Wong later on released an apology on his Sina Weibo account for the "unnecessary trouble" he brought to CCTV and the producer of the show. He also stressed that he does not support "Hong Kong independence."
Chen Di, the show's chief director, responded on his Sina Weibo on Dec. 31, saying that his production team would not have invited Wong to participate in the show if they had known about the actor's inappropriate behavior on social media. Chen also promised that Wong would not appear on screen for the next episode's airing.
According to Chen, the show's production team had done some preliminary investigative work on Wong's social media behavior but had not found much improper content.
"His sharing of some alleged inappropriate content happened after the invitation to the show," said Chen.
When Chen was asked about why Wong's scenes and face was censored from the broadcast, the director said, "We did not want to play a part in the hype of his unwarranted behavior."
Even without Huang's report, Chen believes that Wong's part in the show would have likely been cut because their team active on social media would have discovered his comments at the outset.