Paparazzi fined for spreading drug rumors against actresses

Actress Barbie Hsu. Photo from Hsu's Instagram

According to the Hong Kong news portal HK01, the Taiwan Taipei District Court ruled on Monday that Ko lost a "false information" lawsuit filed by the Hsu sisters. He has been ordered to consequently pay each of the sisters 300,000 Taiwan dollars, a lower amount than the 2-million-Taiwan-dollar compensation each that the actresses initially asked for.

It is uncertain if Ko will appeal the verdict.

The Hsu sisters sued Ko earlier this year for "spreading false information," following the airing of a TV program in which Ko said he knew the sisters had been taking drugs for a long time. He also alleged that the actresses had purchased drugs from a fellow male artist.

This is not the first time Ko has been accused of spreading groundless rumors about celebrities.

The paparazzi surprised netizens with a U-turn last year when he said that Chinese actor-singer Lu Han and actress Dilraba Dilmurat were merely good friends, just a day after he alleged that the two artists were dating in Japan, according to The Straits Times.

Barbie Hsu, 47, and Dee Hsu, 45, also known as Big S and Little S respectively, are two famous Taiwanese actresses, singers, and TV hosts.

Barbie married Chinese entrepreneur Wang Xiaofei in 2010 and announced their divorce in 2021. She then remarried South Korean musician Koo Jun-yup, an ex-boyfriend of hers, the following year.

She and Wang have been embroiled in several lawsuits over alimony and defamation since their separation.

Dee married Taiwanese businessman Mike Hsu in 2005.