Needless to say, the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star denies everything, from the report that she was paid roughly $950,000 to sleep with ousted Commerce Minister Bo Xilai in 2007 (a transaction that a source says was repeated at least 10 times over the ensuing years) to the claims by Bo's former associate that he "pimped her out to two other high-level officials as well." Nevertheless, pending a full investigation, the Chinese government is said to have forbid her travel to the Cannes premiere of her new adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons. (Co-star Cecilia Cheung attended in her place.)
Zhang, meanwhile, has thanked her suporters and promised to bring the legal hammer down on Apple Daily, from whom her lawyers demanded a complete retraction and published apology (for starters):
"Friends have advised us to release a short statement and not take this seriously. [...] The more you argue, the more you will stir up. It would be better to step aside until people lose interest and the lies disappear. The innocent will always be innocent.
"But this time we don't want to be silent. If we leave these lies to spread, what is completely untrue will be at risk of becoming a half-truth. This time, we are telling those rumor-makers that we will respond. We will prove our side of the story; we'll seek legal justice; we'll find you in the darkest corner and go after you.
"We will seek justice for Zhang Ziyi by taking legal action against Apple Daily and against any other media publishing these false reports."
Yikes. This will be interesting. Anyway, best of luck, Zhang! John Travolta knows a good lawyer if you need a little extra back-up.
[ONTD, China.org.cn]