HONG KONG — Hong Kong singer-actor Leslie Choy Foon-fung has broken his silence on a string of long-standing rumors that have trailed him for nearly four decades, using a televised reunion to set the record straight on everything from an infamous 1985 on-air remark to a 2004 assault that left him permanently blinded in one eye.
Choy, 63, appeared as a guest on the latest episode of Dangerous People 2.0, an online program hosted by former actress Weng Jingjing. The emotional sit-down marked the first time the two had met face-to-face in more than 40 years, prompting Weng to burst into tears as she embraced her old friend.
On the 1985 “Brilliance” Controversy
Choy addressed claims that a throwaway line spoken during a 1985 awards ceremony — “a moment of brilliance does not represent eternity” — was aimed at a rival singer and led to his alleged blacklisting. The comment, widely interpreted as a jab at pop superstar Leslie Cheung, supposedly triggered a corporate freeze-out.
Choy denied ever being banned by any network or record company. He acknowledged he had refused producers’ demands to apologize to other artists, insisting his words were not born of jealousy. He added that as the show’s host, he already knew the outcome of all 10 winning songs, saying: “There are many behind-the-scenes operations on television — sometimes winning or not winning, I don’t want to spell it out.”
Choy explained that his dual role as both a singer and a salaried TVB employee placed him at a structural disadvantage. Because rival singers were signed to their own record labels while he was on staff payroll, he reasoned he would be the first sacrificed in any quota shuffle. That realization, he said, prompted him to resign from the hosting post voluntarily.
Financial Toll and Career Setback
The veteran entertainer strongly refuted suggestions that loose lips left him destitute, revealing that 1986 was actually his highest-earning year. The real turning point, he said, came in 1988 when a tentative five-show deal at the Hong Kong Coliseum collapsed after his record company refused to release a new album. The dates were ultimately handed over to a multi-artist variety show.
Choy claimed that entertainment mogul Cheung Yiu-wing later pledged publicly to book him for eight or even ten shows, a promise that, he alleged, angered powerful figures.
2004 Attack and “Four Mad Kings” Label
In a more disturbing revelation, Choy recounted a 2004 visit to Shenzhen to discuss a possible Coliseum booking with Cheung after learning that singer Priscilla Chan had not used her allocated dates. He alleged he was ambushed by more than 30 assailants, attacked with an iron lotus weapon to the right eye, and suffered traumatic glaucoma that left him with permanent vision loss.
Choy said media branding of him as one of the “Four Mad Kings” made police reporting difficult, and his case only progressed after he wrote to the Security Bureau — though it ultimately went nowhere. He also claimed that during a performance in Atlantic City, he was threatened at gunpoint by four men amid a dispute involving other female performers.
The interview offers a rare, unvarnished account of the forces Choy says derailed his career — and a window into the opaque machinery of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry during the 1980s.
