Netizens speculate Gao Yunxiang was seduced and blackmailed

Chinese actor Gao Yunxiang (Gavin Gao) made his first court appearance on Thursday (Jul 19) wearing a navy blue suit after he was released on bail.

The actor, who appeared to have gained some weight, entered the courtroom through a media scrum and remained silent when he was bombarded with questions.

New reports alleging that the actor could have been a victim of a scheme emerged a few days ago. Netizens alleged that the victim was seen having fun at a casino after the sexual assault case, and reported that she did not appear to be as “affected” by what happened to her that night, thus raising suspicions of it being an orchestrated scheme to blackmail the actor.

On top of that, the identity of the female production crew member who was allegedly sexually assaulted by the Chinese actor has been made known within the Chinese community in Australia, and she is reportedly open to settling the lawsuit out of court for 1 million AUD (approximately S$1.01 million).

According to China reports, Yunxiang is currently living in a rented S$1,500-a week apartment with his mother, Chinese actress wife Xuan Dong and their 2-year-old daughter. He was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault and pleaded not guilty in court.

He was granted bail on June 29 after his lawyer had provided the footage of the wrap party as evidence and when two friends, Lina Fu and Bin Liu, had testified and offered sureties for him in court. To prevent him from fleeing the country, the 35-year-old had to surrender his passport, report to police twice a day and be subjected to electronic monitoring on top of a surety of more than 3 million AUD.

The Chinese actor was in Sydney filming a TV series called Love in Aranya when he and Chinese producer Jing Wang were accused of sexual assault against a female production crew member at a Shangri-La hotel after the wrap party.

Photos: PBE Media

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