King of Pop Jay Chou (Jay) recently held a concert at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest and invited friends in the audience to interact. Huang Xiaoming, who once filmed the show “Chinese Restaurant” with Hannah Quinlivan, was also invited to speak. With a smile, he said: “Jay, let me tell you, only you can keep your wife in check!” He then highly praised Hannah Quinlivan, “On our ‘Chinese Restaurant’, she was simply an angel, a princess, truly outstanding, with great taste, great cooking skills, and always eager to help.” He went on to say, “I’m really envious of Jay for having such a wonderful wife.”
What was intended as a compliment to his friend’s marriage unexpectedly sparked polarized reactions after the video surfaced. The phrase “only you can keep your wife in check” was seen by some netizens as embodying “macho” or patriarchal overtones, suggesting that women should be in a position to be ‘controlled’, and causing controversy.
Even more unexpectedly, Huang Xiaoming’s ex-wife Angelababy (Yang Ying) was drawn into the discussion. Some netizens pointed out that Huang had referred to Yang Ying as his “angel” at their wedding, yet used the same words to praise Hannah Quinlivan now, bringing to mind comparisons to his previous marriage. Others dug up details from his marriage to Angelababy, noting that she had also accompanied him through career and personal lows, helped bear the burden of public scrutiny, and attended key events even while pregnant. As a result, some people felt uncomfortable about Huang now publicly stating how he “envies Jay for having such a good wife.”
Many netizens commented: “Did you cherish your own angel?” and “Baby was also considered a good wife by many back then.” One highly upvoted comment read: “What a coincidence, Baby probably also envies Hannah Quinlivan for having such a good husband.” However, other netizens defended Huang Xiaoming, arguing that his comments were simply meant to praise Hannah Quinlivan’s performance on “Chinese Restaurant”, not to deliberately compare her to Angelababy or put down his ex-wife. They felt that the public does not need to over-interpret his words.
News source: United Daily News