Quan Yifeng refutes Addy Lee’s claims of making S$300,000 a month by livestreaming, explains why she stopped
Her side.
Mediacorp host Quan Yifeng has spoken up about the recent controversy between her and former celebrity hairstylist Addy Lee in a
Zaobao interview published on May 15.
In two Facebook livestream
videos that have gone viral, Lee said he and Quan were as close as family, but their relationship took a hit when they worked together to sell hair products over livestream during the pandemic in 2020.
Disputed accounts about finances
Lee revealed in his Facebook video that he urgently needed to do livestream selling due to cash flow concerns at his hair salons, and to pay for his sick parents' medical bills.
However, Quan told
Zaobao that Lee never told her he was facing financial pressure. She added that he owned a S$3 million house, drove a luxury car, and employed several assistants at the time.
While Lee claimed that their livestreams helped Quan make about S$300,000 a month, Quan told
Zaobao it was S$400,000 over three months.
She described feeling "exhausted to [the point of] death" doing the livestreams.
"During the pandemic, I was very busy as a host, working more than 10 hours a day. When I returned home, I still did live broadcasts with him," she said.
Uneasiness about the livestream business
Quan explained that although she was earning a lot of money livestreaming, she was feeling increasingly uneasy about the work. She felt that it was not appropriate for her to have a side hustle while she was still under Mediacorp.
Lee later also started selling products he had developed, but Quan did not fully understand what they were selling.
This made her worry about her credibility as a host and about possibly taking advantage of the loyalty of her fans.
"I know I'd get extremely rich if I continued doing it, but I didn't want to exploit others," she said.
The decision to leave
Quan recounted to
Zaobao the day she left the business and moved out of Lee's house.
She said that she had hid in a room, and Lee had to get an assistant to ask her repeatedly to come out and go live with him.
When she finally appeared on camera, she was in a foul mood, which caused the atmosphere to be extremely awkward. Lee was forced to end the livestream prematurely.
Quan said that when she and her daughter moved out, she wrote him a long farewell letter. This contradicts Lee's account that she sent him a brief text message.
Why she's speaking out now
In 2020, reporters asked Quan about her fallout with Lee, but she did not go into details, wanting to part ways amicably.
She also said that she went into the partnership willingly and called Lee hardworking.
In response to Lee calling her heartless and ungrateful, she countered by asking, "Did I forget his kindness? Did I betray his friendship?"
She explained that she had stayed silent these few years because she was unsure how far Lee would go. Yet, she also felt that his accusations did not impact her much.
Quan said this interview with
Zaobao will be the last time she would comment on their relationship, as she feels that there will be no end to the back and forth should she continue responding to him publicly.