Jay Chou sued over unpaid hotel bill

Beijing - A trip to a Zhejiang tourist spot to film a music video has led to a dispute between singer Jay Chou and a hotel there, reports said.

Yanyu Jiangnan Hotel in the scenic ancient town of Xitang in Jiashan County has sued Chou and his lyricist Vincent Fang, saying they free-loaded at the hotel while shooting the video last November, NetEase reported, citing a story on Zhejiang Online News.

The Jiashan County People's Court has received the suit filed against Fang's production company which filmed the video for The Traveller, a track off Chou's album Aiyo, Not Bad which the Taiwan singer wrote with Fang, it is reported.

The hotel is demanding that they pay more than 98,500 yuan (S$21,149) owed for three days of lodging, meals and other expenses incurred, plus interest foregone.

But a letter from Chou's lawyer to the hotel accuses it of allowing its staff to leak details of the celebrities' visit on social media.

It said noisy fans mobbed the hotel, depriving Fang and Chou of rest and causing the filming to be prolonged and more costly.

Chou's camp wants the hotel to issue a public apology, waive costs of their stay and remove all leaks about the visit. His lawyer told Zhejiang Online News that the hotel had signed an agreement guaranteeing the group's privacy.

This was denied by the hotel's manager, a Mr Li, who also said its staff did not circulate photos of the visit on the Internet.

"They're big stars. People want to watch. Some people put up the photos and they were quickly circulated," he explained.

A front-desk staff member told the reporter: "Chou is handsome. He stayed in a high-end, 2,880 yuan-a-night suite with a living room, a big bath and a 60-inch TV set."

This article was first published on May 14, 2015.
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