TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A New York court has approved the divorce between Taiwanese-American singer Wang Leehom (王力宏) and his former Taiwanese wife Lee Jinglei (李靚蕾) with Wang ordered to cover Lee's estimated NT$1 million (US$32,000) in attorney fees.
Just two days after Wang announced he had filed for divorce in 2021, Lee released a social media post alleging numerous infidelities on the part of Wang. Legal disputes between the pair included a custody battle over their three children.
On Wednesday (July 5), Wang's lawyer Yeh Wei-li (葉偉立) issued a statement saying, "It is unfortunate that someone continuously places all the blame on the other party," reported SET News. The attorney confirmed that Wang's request for divorce was granted by a New York court.
Yeh said the court did not find any fault with Wang's grounds for divorce based on a legally binding divorce agreement reached by both parties. "Wang Leehom is very grateful to the U.S. court for the completion of the case, finally ending the marital disputes with Ms. Lee," wrote Yeh.
Wang's lawyer said that according to the divorce agreement, Lee had obtained "a huge amount of assets." However, Yeh alleged that Lee subsequently made additional claims in the U.S. lawsuit, seeking "a huge claim of more than US$10 million," leading to prolonged litigation.
Yeh claimed that all of her requests were rejected by the New York court. "The court clearly stated in its ruling that Ms. Lee's separate lawsuit in Taiwan and her deliberate public disclosure of their marital issues in the media were reasons for rejecting her requests," said Wang's lawyer.
In 2021, Wang said he would hand over a mansion to Lee, the Wujiang (吾疆) luxury condominium on Renai Road in Taipei's Daan District worth NT$480 million. The estimated total value of the assets and alimony she will receive following their divorce had climbed to NT$1.14 billion, over one-third of Wang's wealth.
Also on Wednesday, Lee's lawyer Chen Chien-chou (陳建州) issued a response to Yeh's statements by writing: "It is truly astonishing how someone can twist the facts and legal judgments of the lawsuit, making such absurd and baseless accusations. If even judicial facts can be manipulated, there will be no justice in the world," reported TVBS.
Chen then listed the following four points:
Firstly, Mr. Wang Leehom and Ms. Lee Jinglei agreed to a divorce through a mutual agreement. After the two parties signed the divorce agreement in 2019, they jointly submitted it to the U.S. court, and it was recently granted by the court.
The U.S. court ruled that Mr. Wang Leehom, as the party at fault, must compensate Ms. Lee Jinglei for the attorney fees incurred due to his wrongdoing. This is a fact written in black and white by the court, which is beyond doubt or arbitrary distortion.
Since Ms. Lee Jinglei voluntarily relinquished any claim to Mr. Wang's property throughout the entire process, she did not receive a single cent of Mr. Wang's property due to the divorce.
Ms. Lee Jinglei has never claimed to "ask for a huge amount of more than US$10 million dollars in the U.S. lawsuit". The real reason that "the trial time of this case continues to be extended" is that after Mr. Wang Leehom lost the U.S. lawsuit on July 6, 2022, he appealed to the U.S. court on August 5, 2022. And on Aug. 31, 2022, filed a petition with the U.S. court for his unwillingness to pay child support in accordance with the agreement.
Chen closed by saying that Wang has "violated the law by blatantly lying and distorting the facts in his statement just now. It is unacceptable for the party at fault to be so arrogant and openly spread rumors and fabricate facts to oppress the victims."
