Wang Leehom (王力宏) and Lee Jinglei’s (李靚蕾) ongoing legal battle has reached another level. On February 11, a Chinese netizen uploaded a series of documents they obtained on Wang Leehom and Lee Jinglei’s New York court case on their divorce agreement. According to the netizen, they claim the documents state that Lee Jinglei didn’t abide by the terms in their signed agreement, which generally refers to non-compliance in the child custody agreement and asset distribution judgment.

The netizen also claims that Lee Jinglei has never provided any evidence to support the claims she made while Wang Leehom’s team has already provided 11 pieces of evidence. The documents show Wang Leehom’s team filing a motion requesting the court to rule on Lee Jinglei to be in contempt for not complying with the court order.

Hours later, Lee Jinglei issued a statement through her lawyer with five retorts:

1. The New York case was initiated by Wang Leehom unilaterally violating their agreement and applied a motion for the New York court to provide an emergency change agreement. The “so-called 11 pieces of evidence” were legal documents provided by Wang Leehom through his lawyer. The content of the documents are mostly Wang Leehom’s unilateral statements “that aren’t consistent with the facts and there is no evidence to support it.”
   
2. Lee Jinglei’s lawyer explains there is a clear cut schedule arranged by the New York court for the defense to reply and provide their arguments. Her team states they must provide all the evidence and documents according to the date scheduled by the court, which is February 11, 2022 New York time. They have already completed preparing their documents and denies claims made by the netizen that she was unable to provide evidence.
   
3. The New York court case documents were filed anonymously by both parties and it is not public information. Lee Jinglei’s lawyer says it’s quite a coincidence and evident a day before they were due to submit their evidence that this “netizen” who is not part of the case was able to reveal details about the case by knowing the exact case number, search on the progress of the case, and identify the case even though it was filed anonymously.
   
4. Lee Jinglei’s lawyer states Lee Jinglei has been constantly contacting Wang Leehom to visit their children in compliance with their custody agreement and was willing to discuss with him on a visitation arrangement. However, they claim Wang Leehom refused her requests and even ignored the lawyer’s letter she sent to him on January 25 requesting him to discuss the visitation plan.
   
   On January 28, 2022, New York time, Lee Jinglei received a notice that Wang Leehom bypassed their mediation procedure highlighted in their divorce agreement and filed a motion with the New York court for an emergency change on their visitation arrangement. Lee Jinglei’s lawyers claim they only received the reasons and content for the emergency change of their visitation agreement 73 minutes prior to the court hearing.
   
   Lee Jinglei’s lawyers also claim Wang Leehom violated more than 10 articles of their agreement and refused to comply with it so he decided to apply for an emergency change in their visitation plan without considering their children’s needs and endangered their physical and mental health.
   
5. Despite Wang Leehom stating that he would fulfill the responsibility as his father and try his best to provide financial assistance, Lee Jinglei’s lawyers said he has continued to slander her reputation to their family and friends. They also said Wang Leehom used “netizen” exposés and large scale lawsuits to attack Lee Jinglei and ignored the best interests of their children.
   
   Lee Jinglei’s lawyers also revealed Wang Leehom ignored their divorce agreement and froze Lee Jinglei’s accounts and real estate that she could use and dispose of as stated in their agreement. In addition to cutting off their financial resources, they said Wang Leehom used this opportunity to file a lawsuit in New York. In addition to taking on the burden of the heavy legal fees, Lee Jinglei’s lawyers claim Wang Leehom has been reluctant to pay the most basic child support fees and even filed a motion with the courts to have her pay for his legal fees.

Wang Leehom’s team responded to Lee Jinglei’s lawyer’s statement, saying, “Because of the divorce, it has triggered a public trial by the media and irrational cyber bullying. Regardless of who gets attacked, they’re still the children’s father or mother. In regards to the children, it’s a shame. Hope all the disputes will return to justice. My party has also completely handed over everything to the lawyers to handle. I completely respect the legal system. In addition, due to the previous media incident and taking the children’s best interests into consideration, the US court has already ordered that neither party can belittle the other party through the media. I deeply regret seeing the false accusations in the statement again.

Credit: Zhihu, Apple Daily TW (1, 2)