KUALA LUMPUR: Companies sometimes get into trouble for using unauthorised images of celebrities, or their spouses, to promote their products.
Entertainment portal Asia One reported yesterday that Dr Michael Lai, the Taiwanese husband of Hong Kong singer-actress Gillian Chung of Twins, had his photo on the poster of a male escort club in Changchun Road, Taipei recently.
In an interview with Taiwanese media, Dr Lai, 30, clarified that the image was used without his permission.
And the good doctor even threw in a little self-deprecating humour to drive his point home.
He said: “The club is called 183, but I’m only 173 centimeres tall, so I definitely don’t make the cut!”
Dr Lai added that the photo was taken during a shoot for his friend’s suit brand four years ago.
“I’m much older now, and I just spent a fortune launching my business, so how could I afford to open my own gigolo club?” he joked.
On a more serious note, Dr Lai revealed that a friend had sent him a picture of the poster some time ago, and he had urged the club to remove it.
However, the club ignored his request and he now plans to take legal action against it.
Dr Lai also clarified rumours that he had a huge salary.
“Because of that poster, I’m now known as Mr 3 Million among my friends!” he said.
“I definitely don’t earn that much a month. In the past, I could make a little extra income travelling to China for variety shows, but now a lot of aesthetics clinics in China are closed because of the Covid-19 outbreak, so we make about 50 per cent less now.”
Dr Lai opened his aesthetic clinic in Taipei last year, and business was said to be booming.
According to Taiwanese media reports, Dr Lai was able to earn as much as NT$3million (RM423,000) a month.
Chung, 39, formed the Cantopop duo Twins with her friend Charlene Choi in 2001. Besides singing, she has also starred in films as Beyond Our Ken, Happy Go Lucky, Ip Man: The Final Fight and The Twins Effect.
Chung and Dr Lai tied the knot on May 26, 2018.