RAO:You were a highly visible presence in this part of the world until the scandal really blew up. What have you been doing with your days since it happened?
CHEN:I've been doing a lot of things. It took me a little while, but you know, with the constant support of everyone around me, you know, my family especially and my girlfriend. I kind of got through that shell again. I kind of got through this I'm nothing and I'm done and I might as well give up stage and, you know, started to see what I could do that was valuable in the area that I was in. And I was in America. I was in LA and New York mostly. I've always wanted to either direct or produce movies so I, you know, decided to take some crash courses, follow some producers and try to learn the game of production. Not only did I have time to do some of the things I enjoyed, um, some of the things that I dreaded at first like doing my laundry or throwing out the garbage or going to the grocery store actually became something that really grounded me, and really gave me a different perspective of life because I've been working in the entertainment industry since I was 19. Very young.
I didn't really have a great outlook on life to be honest with you. I was just out of school. It was like a party. You know, every day was like a party. I kind of got accustomed to that life where everything was taken care of, where I thought I was a pretty good person, and then I went back and I kind of had to do all these things by myself and I kind of reflected on the way I treated people and the way I saw things, and I got a lot more grounded. And I am thankful for that, you know. I mean, everything, I believe that everything happens for a reason.
RAO:Let's talk now specifically about the scandal. Sounds like a simple question, but why did you take the photos in the first place?
CHEN:Well, you know, when you're young you do a lot of things that you don't quite comprehend. You think it's fun, you do it, you don't really think about the outcome or what would happen if this or what would happen if that, and I think that you know, I mean, every every. when you're a teenager and when you're young and when you're a celebrity, and you have this and that, I think maybe you go overboard a little bit. And I think that maybe, you know, I just went a little too overboard, a little too wild I guess maybe. I don't take those pictures anymore and I had ceased to take those pictures for actually quite a long time. All those pictures that were released were taken pre-2004. It was 2008 when these photos were released so it was like a lot of people were seeing 'oh that's Edison.' That was actually the old Edison. Those photos were from 4 years ago. It's just, you know, I had even.I was in a serious relationship at that time. It was my first serious relationship. ever. I was in love. I'm happy. And, you know, when you respect someone and you really love someone you tend to care about how those people feel and when we had like deep intense talks, we talked about our past and, you know, I had actually told her that some of these things had happened before and she was quite upset and actually told me to delete them.
RAO:Why didn't you?
CHEN:I did. I did. I did delete them and.
RAO:RAO-All of them?
CHEN:Yes, all of them. All of them. 6 months later after I had deleted these photos off my computer, my computer broke down. I had insisted, I mean, I had asked my assistant to go and bring the computer to go and get it fixed. Now, what I actually found out after returning to Hong Kong and assisting the police was that they had copied my whole hard drive and then they had recovered my memory. I had no idea that there was such a thing before. I thought that if I had put it in the trash bin and said empty trash bin and it goes [makes noise] and it's gone... forever, but no, it wasn't.
It's strange because I'm actually very happy that I had this talk with my girlfriend before and that she knew that I had deleted them because at least the person that I care for the most in this world knows the truth and will stand by me, because I don't know if I hadn't talked to her and I really didn't do that in front of her face if she would still stand by me through all of this. And, you know, she's been a very strong and very supportive girl even though she's very young.
RAO:You're still together?
CHEN:Yes yes, it's amazing.
RAO:How has she handled all of this?
CHEN: She's like a warrior.She's like superwoman, you know, like to me because while I was sitting indoors hiding, I mean, I don't want to sound like a coward, but it was deeply intense for me, but she'd be going to school every day.
RAO:Were there photos of her?
CHEN:Umm yes, yes, but very few.
RAO:Some 13 hundred were leaked onto the net. Do you know how many there were in total?
CHEN:Umm no, I didn't sit at home and count them, to be honest with you.
RAO:Are we talking hundreds? Are we talking thousands?
CHEN:I would say there were a few more. There were a few more, but that was already enough. Thirteen hundred is way enough already. I never spoke about these photos to anyone. I never.
RAO: You never showed them to anybody?
CHEN:No, I never showed them to anyone. The only people that might have seen them were the people who took them, where'd they be like can I look at what you just took? and I'd show them. I would never parade them around.
RAO:Did all of the women involved know that their photos were being taken?
CHEN:Yes, definitely. Definitely. I have to say that, you know, everything was mutual. It was all consensual, all consensual. I don't know exactly how they view what had happened or what they tell people, but I know the truth. I'm only here to say the truth because I believe that there's too much lies going around and too much controversy and too much hearsay. And I'll tell you right now that, you know, if I have a camera in front of your face and there's a flash, do you know that I'm taking a photo of you? That's as simple as it is.
RAO: Let me just ask you about the computer technician who was involved. By hacking into your files, it does sound like a deliberate attempt to target you personally. How do you feel about him?
CHEN:Umm the way I feel about him today and the way I felt about him 8 months ago is totally different. I've forgiven him and he's going to, you know, he's going to jail. He's got judged and he's passed judgment already and he's doing what he needs to do to redeem himself, but I don't exactly know if the person who stole the photos and that distribute and put them on the internet are the same person, but I definitely think that these people had something malicious towards me. It was a malicious act. It was purposefully done to hurt. No money was involved. No nothing was involved. People ask me, the police ask me, have people been blackmailing you? I was like, no. They're like 'wow' are you sure? I say definitely, I would know if someone was trying to blackmail me.