Revenge of the stars: How celebs Elva Hsiao, JJ Lin and Rain got justice against haters and stalkers

Being in the public eye opens you up to a lot of scrutiny, but sometimes celebrities are on the receiving end of malicious rumours and even stalkers.

Not everyone takes the negativity lying down — here are three celebrities who recently got their revenge.

Rain and Kim Tae-hee's stalker gets prison time

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A woman who repeatedly stalked K-pop star Rain and his actress wife Kim Tae-hee has been sentenced to six months in prison, reported Yonhap on Wednesday (Jan 10).

According to the report, the 49-year-old visited the couple's home in Itaewon, Seoul, a total of 14 times between March and October 2021 and rang their doorbell.

She only received three misdemeanour warnings when the celebrity couple contacted the police, as this was before South Korea enacted its Stalking Punishment Act.

She was then indicted in December 2022 under the Act after she rang Rain and Tae-hee's doorbell again after the Act was in effect.

Judge Kang Young-ki, who presided over the case, said that the defendant was a first-time offender who did not "appear to have the intention to harm or harass" the celebrities, but reiterated that the crime of "stalking the victims continuously and repeatedly" was still a serious one.

He added that she was also diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed the crime "while mentally and physically weak".

However, Judge Kang noted that there were "significant concerns" about the woman reoffending as it is "difficult to provide appropriate treatment for the defendant" and ordered her to complete a 40-hour stalking rehabilitation programme.

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Elva Hsiao wins $13,000 in defamation lawsuit

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Taiwanese singer Elva Hsiao recently sued two netizens who spread malicious rumours that she had Aids and won in court, Taiwanese media reported on Jan 11.

Court documents show that the netizens were ordered to apologise publicly on their Weibo accounts to the 44-year-old as well as pay her a total of 71,000 yuan (S$13,000) - 50,000 yuan for emotional damages and 21,000 yuan for related expenses.

Elva's agent responded about the verdict: "For haters and rumour-mongers, you will eventually pay the price. Please be responsible for your messages and words, thank you."

Elva made her comeback last year after recovering from a fractured hip, signing to Warner Music China and releasing her first single in three years in November 2023.

JJ Lin's hater apologises publicly

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A hater of JJ Lin has also recently apologised publicly to the Singaporean Mandopop star.

On Jan 10, the Beijing Internet Court published a statement from a netizen apologising to the 42-year-old, according to Chinese media reports.

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The court document also stated that the netizen had used his Weibo account to publish 11 defamatory posts against JJ and his family, and made 41 malicious comments from May 2021 to July, 2021.

The netizen wrote in the apology: "I posted a number of infringing posts and malicious comments against JJ Lin and his family on the account involved. I maliciously fabricated, slandered and spread false negative rumours, which infringed on your reputation.

"I would like to express my sincere apologies to you. I sincerely apologise for the harm my actions caused you and your family and for causing public misunderstanding about you."

JJ previously sued a netizen for defamation in 2022 and a law firm representing him called out 28 different online accounts that had "maliciously published/spread false statements against Mr JJ Lin".

More recently, he pulled no punches and posted an Instagram Story on Dec 3, asking people who made fun of his dancing by "putting weird music over concert performance footage" to not come to his concerts next time.

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drimac@asiaone.com