Madam Xiang Reveals Andy Lau’s Near Bankruptcy Incident: Requested Contract Termination and Had It Torn Up on the Spot

Heavenly King Andy Lau has been in the entertainment industry for over 40 years. He remains very popular, is constantly offered film roles, and tickets to his concerts are still hard to get; every move he makes draws attention. Andy Lau has tried his hand at investing in film production companies several times, but in the early days, his ventures always ended in losses. Recently, Madam Xiang (Chan Lan) posted a video revealing that Andy Lau once came close to bankruptcy.

In the video, Madam Xiang said: "Actually, he (Andy Lau) started countless companies, but all ended up failing." When he was younger, his business ventures fell flat, "he alone had to cover 40 million Taiwanese dollars (about 5.57 million ringgit) in losses. He couldn’t just give up his shares in the company, he still had to be responsible for the 40 million TWD debt." Madam Xiang decisively lent money to Andy Lau. Regarding an IOU, Madam Xiang said: "There was absolutely no IOU, just take it."

However, some people impersonated her, claiming they were the ones who lent money to Andy Lau, which made Andy Lau furious. One day, Madam Xiang was bombarded by phone calls from people asking to borrow money. Regarding this, Andy Lau admitted he did it on purpose: "There were people pretending to be the ones who lent me money, so I said, 'No, it wasn't them, it was Madam Xiang.'" "He wanted everyone to know exactly who helped him, and didn’t want just anyone outside claiming they did. He got really angry; this was the first time."

Additionally, in the 1990s, Andy Lau signed a contract with China Star Group, founded by Madam Xiang's husband. Later, Andy Lau approached Madam Xiang to request contract termination, saying, "I’m grown up, I have experience now, let me go out and try to build my career." Madam Xiang knew Andy Lau would come to her: "What do you want me to do, let you go? Well, let’s just tear up our contract; it will no longer be valid, you can go." (There were still 3 years left and about 6 films, but she tore up the contract.)

Afterward, Andy Lau made a few movies that all ended up losing money. His business partners came to ask Andy Lau to promote their sons, but Andy Lau didn’t agree. "So, they sued him. Originally, because they lost money, it was to be split fifty-fifty, but they wanted him to bear the whole loss. After a lot of back and forth, the discussion went nowhere; they even considered going to court. In short, it was a mess."

The two have a very close relationship; many things can be understood without being said explicitly. "I tore up the contract, gave him his freedom—not because he asked, but because I did it. Also, due to the tough times back then, Andy Lau personally offered to cut his pay from 8 million TWD (about 1.114 million ringgit) in half to 4 million TWD (about 557,000 ringgit), which meant he helped everyone get the film done."

Madam Xiang straightforwardly said: "Andy Lau is also a man who values loyalty. All of us admire and understand one another. Later, when things turned around for him, he helped many people in the entertainment industry. I didn’t hear these stories from him, but from many others who pieced together many little tales. Different people told me, from their own experience, 'Andy Lau helped me.' Only then did I learn about it all."

Source: Apple Daily