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Podcast Episode Notes: Rotten Mango - Episode #295: Death of Pop Star Leads to the EVIL Truth Behind The Voice of China
Overview In this episode of Rotten Mango, the hosts dive deep into the tragic story of Coco Lee, a beloved pop star in China, whose life ended abruptly under tragic circumstances. The episode explores the alleged mistreatment Coco faced while serving as a judge on The Voice of China, raising discussions about the darker side of entertainment, mental health, and the pressures faced by public figures.
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Key Themes & Discussions
Coco Lee's Legacy
- Significance: Coco Lee was a legendary figure in the Chinese music industry, often compared to international stars such as Shakira.
- Public Persona: She was known for her vibrant personality and positive interactions with fans, maintaining a strong public image despite her personal struggles.
- Career Highlights:
- First Chinese woman to perform at the Oscars.
- Significant contributions to promoting Chinese artists globally.
Circumstances Surrounding Her Death
- Death Date: Coco passed away on July 5, 2023, following a voicemail to fans expressing her love and appreciation, which was sent earlier that same day.
- Public Reaction: The news of her death sent shockwaves through China, prompting discussions about mental health and the pressures of celebrity life.
Allegations Against The Voice of China
- Audio Clip Revelation: A private audio clip released posthumously revealed Coco’s experiences of bullying, humiliation, and abuse during her time on the show.
- Claims from Former Contestants: Multiple contestants alleged the show was rigged, with talented individuals being sidelined in favor of those who could pay for better positions.
- Coco's Struggles: Despite being a star, she faced immense pressure and mistreatment, ultimately leading to her breakdown.
Behind-the-Scenes Issues
- Production Critiques: The episode discusses the production issues of The Voice of China, including manipulation and unprofessional behavior among the crew.
- Coco's Experience: During tapings, Coco faced significant physical strain due to undisclosed health issues, exacerbated by the show's demanding schedule.
Mental Health Awareness
- Smiling Depression: The term is introduced to describe individuals who appear happy outwardly while experiencing deep emotional pain internally.
- Coco's Final Messages: Coco's voicemails, filled with positivity, masked her struggles with mental health and physical ailments.
Community and Family Aftermath
- Mixed Reactions: Following Coco's death, her family and husband faced scrutiny regarding their support and response to her passing.
- Public Outcry: Celebrities and fans rallied for justice, condemning The Voice of China and highlighting systemic issues in the entertainment industry.
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Conclusion The episode paints a poignant picture of Coco Lee's life, illustrating how her bright public facade hid immense personal suffering. It emphasizes the importance of mental health awareness, the complex dynamics of fame, and the dire consequences of exploitation within the entertainment sector. The discussion serves as a reminder that those who seem the strongest often face the greatest battles behind closed doors.
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Key Takeaways
- Importance of Mental Health: This episode reinforces the need for compassion and understanding toward individuals struggling with mental health issues.
- Examination of Reality TV: The portrayal of Coco's experience raises questions about the authenticity of reality television and the ethics of production practices.
- Legacy of Coco Lee: Her story serves as both a celebration of her achievements and a cautionary tale about the darker realities of fame.
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For more details and full source notes, visit [rottenmangopodcast.com](https://rottenmangopodcast.com).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Rambles. Bada bing, bada boo. Coco Lee was a singer in China. She's not just a singer in China. She was an absolute legend, a household name. If I really had to compare her to somebody, it would maybe be Shakira in the sense that you look at Coco Lee and you think this is a woman who's got her life together. This is a woman who knows what she's doing. She's so established in the industry. She's not one of these people that's trying to get some fame on an award show. She's got it made. I mean, the talent speaks for itself. You could say whatever you want about Coco Lee. She's too loud. She's too strong.
0:39She's too outspoken. But that woman is talented. The way that she sings and dances and performs, I mean, her stage presence is out of this world. But she's turning 50 soon. And that's not to say that she aged out of the industry or anything like that. But it did seem like Coco was personally making the decision to kind of take a more backseat approach to the industry. She was focusing on different business ventures behind the scenes. She wasn't constantly at red carpets or award shows anymore. But somehow Coco Lee still maintained this crazy cult following. I mean, she had this fan group with thousands of people that she would interact with almost on like a daily to sometimes weekly basis, they were all so excited for anything that she put out.
1:27If she was in a commercial, they would watch it. They would stream a commercial, you know? And now, now she's going to be, this is in 2022. So last year, she announced that she was going to be a judge on the voice of China. So of course her fans, they're freaking out. They're so excited. Her season comes and goes, it wraps up and she sends this heartfelt message, this audio, a few, a few months after the season is over. She sends this audio group chat to her fan group. She's thanking them for their support, thanking them for gifts that they might've sent, telling them how much that she misses them.
2:03And she's going to talk to them soon. I mean, just overall, if you know Coco Lee, she was constantly just bringing a lot of positivity to her fan group. She never brought drama. She never complained about the hardships of being a celebrity. She genuinely was just constantly smiling. That's how people remember her. But the very same day that she sent that audio message, Coco Lee would be dead. And nobody had any answers. Coco chose to leave. She chose to end her life. And it just didn't make sense for people. No one could have predicted this, there were no signs to the public, at least. Netizens were totally shaken up by just the shock and the grief.
2:48She was always smiling. She was always so excited and happy. I mean, technically, technically speaking, she was perfect. That's what people said. She had this incredible, legendary career. She was the first Chinese woman to perform at the Oscars. She created this this iconic empire around her talents that just radiated positivity. I mean, she was very well loved by the public. She wasn't even a very controversial figure. She was also married to a billionaire. She was friends with some of the most incredible people on this planet, Beyonce, Jackie Chan. They were all at her wedding, you know? And I mean, from the outside, it did seem like her life was perfect.
3:32So originally there was a lot of conversations about depression. online between netizens and how she always smiled, never showed any of that, any of that sadness to any of her fans. But not too long after her passing, a tweet starts circulating, a tweet from a former contestant on The Voice, The Voice of China, the show that she had just been a judge on. And they stated that they wanted to make a public statement and stand up for Coco and for justice. They stated that The Voice of China was rigged. every producer on that show was there to make money under the table that the top 10 contestant spots can basically be bought with money.
4:12They said it's not about talent. And Coco being a judge on that show, they're confident that she stood up for the students who didn't have the money, but they had the talent. And now she's dead. He said, we need justice for Coco. That is in start freaking out. But the next day, something very interesting happens. That post is taken down and a very creepy tweet is put in its place. The former contestant apologized and stated that his post yesterday was based off zero evidence and facts. He says he apologizes to society, but also to the voice of China. He encourages netizens to not spread any false narratives and or rumors.
4:54It felt like a gunpoint apology. but none of that would matter when a private nine-minute audio clip of Coco Lee before her death was released because that audio clip would reveal that the Coco Lee I mean someone as beloved as famous and as strong of strong financial standing as she was that Coco Lee in the eyes of the public was bullied abused and humiliated to death by the voice of China
5:41As always, full show notes are available at rottenminglepodcast.com. This is a Chinese case. We had one of our wonderful Chinese researchers gather all the data, since most of it was in Mandarin. But as always, with international cases, or really just any case, if anything gets lost in translation or if there's anything at all that we missed, please let us know in the comments. But with that being said, do you guys watch The Voice? Yeah, I loved it. It's the singing competition if you guys don't watch it. And I think it's still very, very famous, especially in the US. But I remember when it first came out, I mean, the whole game show aspect of the singing competition was just so fascinating to see.
6:18I'm gonna give you guys a little debriefing if you haven't seen the show or if you like vaguely remember it in little bits and pieces. but each season, four judges, celebrity singers that act as judges and mentors, they're brought onto the show and they're going to build their own team of students that they're going to coach throughout the season. And each round, they're going to lose students here and there until just one student, one contestant is the winner of that season of The Voice. So each judge is trying to get all the good students in their team so that at least one of them can win the show.
6:53And now the show can be split up into a few distinct portions. Blind auditions, battles, knockouts, live shows. The blind auditions are like the coolest part. That's what the voice is known for, right? The four celebrity judges, they're sitting in these big red chairs with this giant red button in front of them and their backs are turned to the contestants. So imagine someone is singing behind me. And just by judging the voice of that contestant without being able to see them or to see their stage presence, how they carry themselves. They will push that button if they like that voice. And that means I want you on my team.
7:31Now, if only one judge turns around for the contestant, the contestant is automatically on that judge's team. If multiple judges turn around, then it's up to the contestant to choose, okay, do I want to go with this guy or this woman? Like, who do I want to go with? And there's drama. You know, the judges are fighting each other to get the good contestants on their team. And it's awkward when none of the judges turn their chairs. And the contestant is just kind of standing there like, well, okay, then my dreams are dead. So yeah. I mean, from there, the show kind of proceeds like you would imagine any singing competition.
8:05And the whole premise of the show, like the whole idea of the show is based on the fact that you're judged by nothing but your voice, your voice alone. That's it. The concept works so well that there's 60 different renditions of it, like 60 different adaptations. Wow. The most popular ones are obviously The Voice of America. And recently, The Voice of China has been taking off. A lot of the spinoffs, they'll stay true to the original concept, or they'll have their own like little twist and added rules. But The Voice of China, when it premiered, it was an instant hit. It had 120 million TV viewers and 400 million internet viewers during the first season.
8:50400 million is insane. That is more than the entire population of the United States. Wow. I mean, I'm sure that some of these netizens watching were not all from China and they're from other countries too, but it was huge. But there's a saying in China, The water is deeper than you think And it's, you know the saying? Yeah, yeah Oh, okay, okay So it's used to describe situations Of when someone jumps into a lake Thinking, ah, the bottom of the lake Probably just a few inches deeper than my feet go, right? But in reality Just below your flailing little legs There's hundreds of feet of dark, muddy, cold water With God knows what swimming around the voice of china was worse than that so at first the rumors of drama were circulating around the show and they were almost kind of like cute and goofy rumors there was a clip circulating online of one of the judges and in this clip this judge looks down kind of bends their chin towards their chest right and they have this split second reaction just for like a minute second and their face expression looks like it's saying oh my god what's that smell right it's like they look like they're getting choked up by their own body odor.
10:06And netizens were joking online that it's because they have to wear the same thing every day. Do these celebrities not have an outfit budget? Like what's going on? Do they at least get to dry clean it after every shoot day? What's going on? Now, it's a known detail that the voice judges, I believe in all the renditions, they wear the same clothes during the blind auditions, which I'm sure takes like a month to film at least yeah a lot of netizens speculated wait a minute is this done so that producers can manipulate the edits of the final cut that's gonna air but industry professionals they argued it's literally for continuity i mean you know you gotta edit a show to make it more fast-paced and engaging sometimes there is an audition from day one that's gonna be aired after an audition from day five because maybe that audition is a bit more emotional.
10:56So we want to save it as the end audition. It's not that big of a deal. They argued it's not that deep. The show must go on. But then it goes deeper. There was another clip that goes viral in China. One of the judges had pressed the button for a contestant. Her chair dramatically turns around and this is what she looks like she's wearing black and her hair is pinned straight okay the judge her hair is straight she's wearing black and it's not like the minute that she turns around the scene is over you know usually the judges will either fight for the contestants if multiple judges have turned their chairs or they're going to give their personal input on the contestants performance so when this judge starts complimenting the student suddenly her hair is curly she's still wearing the same outfit but her hair went from straight to boing boing curl okay so it was a different day yeah so unless they paused the whole production for her assistant to run on stage and curl the judge's hair out of nowhere it made no sense huh how could her hair go from straight to curly in one scene if that is supposedly from one fluid continuous shot imagine in the middle of this sentence my hair is not curly.
12:11It's just confusing. Netizens were wondering, is this even a reality show anymore? They theorized what could have happened behind the scenes for this kind of scenario to unfold. So some of the netizens are speculating the producers didn't like what she said about that student and they maybe had her sit back in the chair and say new comments and then edited it back in to make it seem like it was happening in real time. Others speculated that maybe they did a double take of the audition. They filmed this particular audition twice. The first time, the judge had straight hair. The second time, the judge had curly hair.
12:44And they just mashed the two together in a final edit. That was a theory, but ultimately that begs another question. Why would they do that? That seems very unfair. You get one shot. Another speculation was maybe the judge was saying all these nice things about another contestant's performance, but the producers cut it out of that segment and made it seem like she was saying it about this particular contestant instead wow i guess they can do whatever yeah wow i mean so people are going crazy online i mean if any of these speculations were proven true it would completely discredit the whole show i mean the whole point of the show so industry professionals they argued it could have easily been a technical issue with so many moving parts in a production like this it wouldn't be out of this world for something to go wrong during a segment.
13:33Maybe there was a mic or camera problem and the judges were asked to go back and refilm just that portion. I mean, they probably try to keep it as true to the original as possible, but it's not like a YouTube video where they can just be like, sorry guys, the mic just cut out. You know, they argued it's not that deep. The show must go on, but then it goes deeper. Part of what makes The Voice so fun to watch is when all the judges are sitting in these big red chairs facing away from the contestants and you see their faces reacting to the singing. You know, you see some of them light up. You see some of them get so enthusiastic.
14:09Maybe they're hovering their hand over the button. They're hesitant because they only have like three more slots on their team left, but then they dramatically smash that button. That's the whole point. There's even that chemistry element between the judges that adds another layer of drama and excitement. So one particular season on the voice of China, a male contestant was singing and the judges were all kind of like eyeing each other, saying things like, you're not turning. Then another judge would say, you're not turning. Are you turning? Who's going to turn? The energy was so strange. It felt like each judge wanted the other judges to turn, but they themselves didn't want to turn.
14:50They're more so encouraging each other like, you should turn. You're not turning? Come on, you should turn. Even after the contestant finished the song, none of the judges turned. So you're like, okay, in situations like this, that means the contestant is unfortunately eliminated. No judge picked them. But the contestant is still standing there, just staring at the backs of the four red chairs. The host is not coming on stage like, sorry, kid, you've been cut. Nothing's happening. The judges are still kind of like side-eyeing each other until finally the youngest judge of that season, Henry, pushes his button and his chair turns.
15:28It is so awkward to watch. Okay, think about it. The natural reaction for Judge Henry now is to look at the contestant because that's a big part of the show, matching the voice in the face. Hearing this deep, raspy voice of someone that's filled with so much emotion, you think that they've lived three lives and went through 24 divorces, the way they sing about love. And then you smash your butt and your chair turns around and it's like a 13 year old kid. And you're like, wow, I was not expecting that. Right. Henry doesn't even glance at the contestant. Instead, he looks at the other judges and it's almost this, this weird unspoken look of you owe me.
16:09I did this for you. Like I took one for the team. And you see the other judges kind of let out a sigh. Like, okay. So it's settled. This contestant is now on Henry's team. But the rest of the judges, they're always turned to face the contestant in the end. And they can even talk to the contestant, even if they're not going to be on the same team. So one of the judges was named Joker. Do you know Joker? Yeah, I love Joker. What is he like, pop, R &B? Just pop, I guess. just like mainstream like interesting really popular okay so he's it correct me if i'm wrong he's notorious for being brutally honest for being very blunt yeah yeah yeah i think so i think there are some famous like event happened on reality tv yeah we're gonna talk about that okay so people find joker very refreshing because he just doesn't really care about money he says whatever he wants on every single show and every single interview he turns around and looks at the contestant and asks, do you know why we took so long?
17:10We were deciding who should turn. The contestant just kind of laughs awkwardly. And one of the other judges tries to cut this very strange, bizarre tension by saying, well, wait, let me explain. Let me explain everyone. It sounds like we were pushing you onto each other. And trust me, I wanted to turn my chair, but your way of singing, it's not something that I think that I'm capable of guiding and teaching in a way that would be helpful to you okay okay which if you like watch the voice there's country singers that are taken on not country singer you know what i mean it's yeah that's not the whole point right another judge chimes in to tell him that his tempo and beat was flawless but that's so puzzling because if he's flawless why didn't you also turn your chair and if you watch other clips of really any season of The Voice of China, you will see the judges passionately fighting for contestants to be a part of their team.
18:05Sometimes they'll even resort to trying to buy the other judges off. Like, I'll buy you a car. I'll buy you a cake. Like, they use egg yolk. They're trying to be cute, you know, and it's all part of the fun and games. So if all of them had nothing but spectacular things to say about this contestant, why weren't they all fighting for him? Side note, the performance. It's not bad. It's okay. It's kind of like that high school friend that goes out during the karaoke nights. They're okay, but you're not like, oh my gosh, you should drop a sound cloud. You're just like, okay. Yeah. So the whole moment was just strange.
18:44The contestant is laughing awkwardly the entire time. Joker and Henry, the other judge, they look like they would rather be anywhere else and this is when the rumor started that you could pay for a chair turn i don't know how this came to be in the beginning it started as a number later it was confirmed the starting rate per chair was said to be around 65 000 dollars yeah wow that's a lot that's crazy yeah that's a lot but at the same time like i guess you could have a shot yeah like in the industry yeah that's yeah a lot of people i guess it's a lot if you're personally paying that but if you're an industry plant and maybe a label is paying it then it's not a lot at all or if your parents are loaded yeah that's crazy so 65 000 a chair turn and people online were saying that makes sense even the way the contestant was just standing there after his performance he doesn't really look sad or upset he has this body language of i paid so I'm not going to leave until I get my money's worth.
19:49Like he's just standing there so confidently, not like, oh man, he's just waiting for a chair to turn, which is not how it works.
20:01Now here's where things get interesting. So Joker, the judge that I was telling you about the one that's very no nonsense, can't be bought type of judge. The assumption was he was actually brought onto the show to get rid of all these rumors about the show being rigged. because he has a history of walking off staged reality shows. So the voice of China was like, this guy, he's known for not putting up with all this BS. If we get him as a judge on our show, all of these rumors that we've had so far about the clothes, the hair being straight and then curly and all of that, it's going to go away.
20:34In the past, Joker went viral for being part of another singing competition. This was a few years before he was on the voice of China. But that show was all sorts of unhinged. One of the contestants was an AI generated singer, a virtual singer that was edited into the show in post. So there was always this empty space left on stage. And the other contestants would just have to pretend like the AI animation was standing there, floating there, I guess, if you'd rather. During an elimination round, Joker said that he was approached by the producers of the show. And they said, can you vote for the AI?
21:11Just this round, OK? And he's like, yeah, no, I'm not going to vote for the AI. That's really dumb. And they said, listen, the AI is going to lose. We know that everybody's voting for this guy or this girl. They're not going to vote for the AI. We just want you to vote for the AI because we don't want it to lose so ugly, you know, by such a landslide. And you're wondering, who cares about the AI's feelings? I thought they don't have feelings. There is still a full company with their own personal interest behind the AI singer. The company that was creating the AI for the show had obviously spent a ton, an enormous amount of money on it, and it would be embarrassing if the AI lost by a landslide.
21:51So begrudgingly, Joker was like, okay, fine. During the live taping eliminations, Joker voted for the AI to stay, believing that it would be eliminated that round. But the results came out and the AI won by just one point. and was going to stay for a round while a human singer had been eliminated instead. So obviously Joker was played. The producers lied to him, telling him that the AI was going to lose for sure. They just wanted to help save face. In reality, they wanted the AI to win that round. So Joker starts freaking out on stage. He said he was lied to by producers, duped by the producers.
22:32He said he would have never, ever voted for an AI if he knew that a real singer would go home and lose their dreams because of some sort of bot. He told the live audience and the cameras that the producers had said this to him behind the scenes. He takes off his mic and walks off the stage. The show is somehow able to edit this out of the final version of what was aired, but a lot of people in the live audience had actually recorded it and leaked it to the internet. The show was under fire and they had to quote, let the AI go. And Joker was forever known in the industry as someone who just could not be bought by money.
23:05Side note, this part is actually a lot darker than it seems Because people think that the intentions these companies were pushing AI singers Was all about money Money for labels Because there's so much money involved when you sign human singers People have bills, they have rent due And as they get bigger, you have to pay them more of the shares of the profits It's probably a dream for record labels to be able to replace all these real people with AI singers So instead of paying Bruno Mars$2.9 million for a concert all they would have to do is pay a software company next to nothing for the AI and keep all the profits.
23:39So yeah, Joker was pissed. And now he's brought on to the voice of China in hopes that if everything goes smoothly this season, people will stop saying that the voice of China is rigged. People will calm down. That's what the producers were hoping for. That's not what they got. But another clip goes viral this season when three judges chairs turned for one single contestant. This is a big deal, right? Now, after the performance, Joker's chair was also turned so that he could participate in these conversations. And he just sits back in his chair. He almost has this smug look on his face and he says, I'm so curious.
24:17I'm so curious. He's talking to the three judges. Why did you guys turn your chairs? Almost implying that the contestant wasn't that talented. And I know that sounds really, really harsh and pretty messed up, but the allegations here are that these contestants paid to win. So I don't think the Joker just wanted to make someone feel self-conscious about their skills. Another thing about this is usually when there's one to two judges turning their chairs for a single contestant, it's a big moment for the show. The judges are passionate about this. They're screaming. They're like yelling. Their hands are in the air.
24:51They're dramatic. They're smashing their fist on the button. Their jaws are on the ground. but the energy for this round even though three judges turned their chairs was pretty chill it's very lackluster it seemed like none of the judges had skin in the game they were like you know i'd like it if you picked me anyway it's rumored that the joker was angering all the producers by all of his sly little comments here and there and in addition to cutting down his screen time by a lot in the final cut of the voice they would allegedly play games with him behind the scenes. Allegedly, the producers knew that Joker had a stomach problem where he can't really digest seafood well.
25:29And the producers knew that. So during an episode where all the judges were sitting around eating and talking about their experience on the show and about what their plans were, they purposely only prepared seafood. Wow. In another clip from this season, a judge will, his chair ends up turning while both of his hands are in his lap. And he's even heard muttering under his breath. What the hell? The chair turned by itself? That's what it seems like. Yeah. Yeah. What? But industry professionals argued that maybe it was just poor editing that made these scenes awkward or there could have been other things going on.
26:05Technical issues that the judges were distracted by or more focused on. And that's why their reactions didn't seem as natural on these scenes. Or some argued about the part where they kept telling each other to turn their chair for the contestant. Some argued, as a judge, you want a diverse team of different types of voices. So maybe he was perfect, he was flawless, but they already had that voice on their team. They argued, it's not that deep. The show must go on, but then it goes deeper. So I have to tell you all of these things. I know it's about Coco, but I have to tell you all of these things because this truly sets the tone about what's about to happen.
26:44So Eason Chen was another legendary judge on The Voice of China. Now, side note, it's not Ethan, but E-A-S-O-N. So Eason. Eason Chen is like the Bruno Mars of China, from what I can tell. Yeah, legend. Everyone knows him. Everyone loves him. But he's not like super, super active. It doesn't seem like he's getting paparazzi'd every day, but he's like household name, so well respected. He's invited to be a judge on The Season of The Voice. Now, most artists, they're still kind of honored. First of all, the pay is great. It's about$2 to$3 million per season per judge, which I thought was crazy, right?
27:20But then I looked up the America voice judges, $13 to$25 million per season. Yeah, Ariana Grande was the highest paid at$25 million per season. The rest usually fall around$13. Wow. Yeah. Wow, wow, wow. Per season. Yeah, so the pay is great. and it solidifies your status in the industry as someone who's talented enough to mentor. It's not you're just a cute face with like an okay voice. This means people want to learn from you. You've got a powerhouse inside of your lungs, you know? But Eason, he doesn't really care for all of that. He's been established. The only reason that he agreed to be a judge on the show was because he wanted to know, is the show rigged?
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28:03Are the rumors true? Later in an interview, Eason talked about his strongest memory from being a judge on The Voice. He said there was this one particular day He was sitting on that big red chair with the rest of the judges and he was listening to one of the contestants He said, you know, she's okay Just okay So he didn't turn his chair. He's not looking for okay students. He wants the best of the best Apparently the other judges felt the same not a single judge turned their chair But still at the end even if they don't choose this contestant all their chairs turn and they're like, oh, sorry Bye, right?
28:36It's unfortunate, but this is a show about talent So after filming wrap that day, a producer comes up to Eason making small talk and just casually asks, oh, yeah, what did you think about that last girl that nobody chose? Eh, just okay, I guess. He didn't think anything of it until a month later. They're still filming the blind auditions, and he's got this little earpiece in his ear so that he can hear producers talk to him. That's not an implication that the show is rigged, by the way. This is very standard on most shows. So producers can tell talent to look at a specific camera or to adjust their mics, things of that nature.
29:10So Eason is sitting in his chair getting deja vu. He's like, wait a minute. I know that voice. I know that voice. I just heard that voice. Where did I hear this voice? And it clicked. It was the same girl that was just okay from a month ago. Wow. But that wouldn't make sense because she would have been eliminated. Why would she get another chance at the blind auditions? So he's sitting there thinking about all of this when a voice in his ear, literally the earpiece, is telling him, press it, press the button, press it, press the button. Maybe the other judges had gotten the same message because at this point, one judge had already turned their chair.
29:46But the producers are telling Eason to also turn his chair so that the two judges could fight over the contestant and create a dramatic moment. What's crazy is that when Eason's chair eventually turned around to face the contestant, he was right. It was the same girl from a month ago. And not only that, she was wearing the same exact outfit as the first time. Wow. Immediately after filming, Eason said he went up to that producer and was like, is that your friend or something? And they're like, what? No, I just thought, you know, all the judges said she was okay last time. So why not bring her back since everyone liked her?
30:17Eason went on the show to find out if the rumors were true. He would come out later in interviews and said, your talent is secondary. If you pay the mentors, they'll definitely turn. And the scariest part is it's only about$70 ,000. And sometimes it even goes on sale where you only have to pay about$13 ,000 to$40 ,000 to get a chair turn. Industry professionals. Did you watch The Voice of China? Yeah, yeah. No, I watch clips on YouTube. Did you ever know about these rumors? Not like I only, I heard about this like after Coco, like this whole incident. I heard about a little bit of what happened.
30:53Yeah. So industry professionals, they were a little bit quieter on this one, but it was still suggested that there's a little bit of corruption in every industry. It could be that it's not necessarily, oh my god, this show is rigged, but rather one of the producers was being weird. They argued, it's not that deep. The show must go on, but it goes deeper. This is the last layer before Coco. A contestant's life was ruined on The Voice of China. Her name was Xing. She's from season one, and she recently came forward with everything that happened behind the scenes. She said immediately after she passed the blind auditions, one of the producers came up to her asking her, hey, do you want to sign under this agency?
31:39And she said, you know, I thought it was a little weird since I literally just passed the blind auditions. It's not like I'm out there making waves on the Internet, amassing fans like I'm barely anybody. but he tries to convince her no it would be a smart choice the judge the team that you're on that judge is signed to the same exact agency so there would be an incentive for him to really focus on growing your talent this season she tells the producer okay uh let me think about it the next time she was on set she goes up to her mentor the judge and she's like oh yeah i heard you're signed with this agency right and he just looks at her so confused and says what are you talking about?
32:18I'm not signed with that agency. Wow. The producer had lied. Apparently the producers went around after blind auditions for each season, signing as much talent as they could. And since a lot of the contestants, they're new to the industry, they don't have followings yet. The contracts were predatory. They're like 10 year long contracts that are incredibly unfair where the agency would make like all the profit. You would be working for next to nothing for 10 years. You would be owned by the label. So Xing is like, yeah, clearly I'm not going to take that deal. She denies the offer. And this, this was the start of the end for Xing.
32:56A few days after she rejected the producer's offers, these rumors started popping up online. They were from alleged former middle school and high school classmates that said, I went to school with Xing. She was a bully. She was rude. She was full of herself. She slept around. All she cared about were boys. There were all sorts of accusations being thrown around online by people that Shing had never even met. She's like, middle school? I don't even know you. These were random people acting as if they went to school with her. But of course, nobody believed Shing. They thought, she's lying to keep her career.
33:32Of course, the bullies were lying. Then some of Xing's private photos were leaked. Photos that she never sent anyone, that were never posted on the internet. They were being leaked. Very soon after, she was also cut from the voice. Her reputation was ruined. Her dreams were practically ruined. But despite all these allegations, the show still went on. Viewers were still tuning in. In the newest season in 2022, people were getting really stoked. The Coco Lee was going to be one of the four judges. Now, I'm sure Coco Lee, at least to some degree, heard of the allegations, but Coco was not a woman that you could mess with.
34:13You know, she's been known as this very fiery, sassy woman her whole career, her whole life, really. And she's probably thinking, if it's rigged, I'm going to call them out on it. And I'm just going to focus on helping my students. She's really just there to teach students how to sing, which, you know, I know it sounds like something you say in hindsight about people, but to give you some context, like I said, Coco is like the Shakira of China. She's a household name. She doesn't have to work anymore, but she chooses to. She's passionate. She's married to a billionaire. So it's not like she needs that like two to$3 million fee.
34:48In fact, it's kind of considered low for her. So she's really not on the show for money. She's not even there for fame or views. No one knew it at the time, but Coco had been diagnosed with breast cancer and she would actually have a tumor removal during the filming of the show. Wow. Her doctor, everyone close to her said, don't do the show. It's going to be so stressful for your body. I mean, yes, You're going to have fun with the students. But those are long set days. You have to show up to get your hair and makeup done. And then just all that stress on your body. Please. But she was like, I just want to help some smaller singers.
35:31You know, I think it'll be fun. I mean, I know it's going to be hard. I know it's going to be stressful, but I think I can make a difference. Coco would end up working really, really hard. I mean, pushing her body during this very difficult filming process. and finally the show starts airing. So it actually starts airing while they're still filming because it's all about the votes coming in and stuff, you know? So just keep that in mind. The start of the season, it feels a little off already. Coco Lee's fans were quick to point out some of the weird details. For one, Coco is barely featured in the show.
36:06She gets like not much airtime, which everyone thought was odd as so many people were anticipating her as a judge. there was this one scene that we later talk about where the editing was just so bizarre like Coco is on set to perform a song with one of her students they're both on stage harmonizing and I guess it's tricky because they have to show two people singing at once but Coco's head is just kind of like cut out and floating on the screen on one side it just felt it felt like an intern had edited it the editing just felt off it didn't seem like something that you would see on the voice Like the student had so many angles of them singing, standing from this side, this side profile.
36:46And then Coco's head was just kind of like in the corner. Yeah, it was really weird. So people were very confused. And then all these little suspicions were confirmed September 28th, 2022. So this is while they're still filming and airing. A short video clip was leaked from what seems to be someone from the live audience of The Voice of China. It's like very short. Coco looks angry. She's standing up yelling at the producers of the show, Are you blind? Everyone is watching. Producer, give me the rules of the game. Why does a person who scored 73 points get a second chance, but the other one who scored 88.3 points does not get a second chance?
37:26Can you explain this? Is this fair? If you don't say it, everyone else will say to you it's not fair.
37:37So to provide you some context, Coco is furious, as she should be, because a student of hers was getting eliminated even though they had a score of 88.3. Meanwhile, other contestants from another team were given a second chance to advance into the next round when their score was 73. This is not even a matter of differences in creative direction or style. This is a straight-up point system. How does that make sense? Coco is defending her student getting angry on behalf of them about how unfair this is this clip leaked and everyone was like okay this makes sense now with all the rumors about the show being unfair unjust and rigged Coco Lee is definitely the type to call out that type of behavior and the producers just like they hated Joker probably hated her too but the show is still in the process of filming and airing which could explain why Coco does what she does next.
38:38She tweets, After coming to The Voice, every student's hard work really touched me. I'm also fully dedicated to being a mentor. Out of love for my students and after patient explanation and communication from the directorial team of The Voice, all misunderstandings have been solved. I hope that our team will be together forever. Please look forward to our team's performance tonight. Keep fighting! So it seemed like Coco didn't want her leaked clip to overshadow the work that her team had put in and how her students were being treated and viewed on the show. Her student that had the higher score but had been eliminated actually ends up coming back on the show because of the outrage by netizens and this leaked clip.
39:19Ultimately, it felt, at least in that time being, right? Everything had been resolved behind the scenes between Coco, the student, and the show. But Coco's fans were not as forgiving. When the season wrapped, Coco's fan page posted a poem on Weibo. And the poem roughly translates to finding like your determination in life and keep going and persevering. But if you take the first words of each line, it reads, the voice of China is shit. Yeah. Coco also went on to delete anything on her page regarding the show the minute it wrapped, like the minute it was done premiering, like the finale. Deleted the voice?
39:58Yeah. Any tweets about the voice, any pictures of the voice, she deleted it. Wow. And she went back to being the Coco that everybody knew. The bright, optimistic one that always encouraged everybody around her, whose eyes, they always said that her eyes turned into half moons when she smiled. But do you know what smiling depression is? So smiling depression is a term for someone living with depression on the inside while appearing perfectly happy or content on the outside. So from the outside, they seem very put together, and it seems like they have life figured out, some would say that these people even appear to be very happy, like they appear to be living a great life.
40:40Now, people who experience smiling depression or people who experience depression yet continue to smile when they're around others, it's said that they may feel that others have it worse. So what do I have to be sad about? Or that they would burden others by expressing how they really feel. So during the filming of The Voice, Coco called one of her best friends and left a voicemail. She said, hey babe, if you're free now, I'm awake. Can you call me? I'm not trying to spread negativity to you. I'm just in so much pain. I can't sleep. I can't sit and I can't walk. It's so serious now. And you can hear her crying in the end of the voicemail.
41:26A few months later, Coco Lee would take her own life. July 5th, 2023, Coco's sisters, Carol and Nancy, announced to the world that Coco Lee had passed. They stated that Coco had tried to end things in her home in Hong Kong on July 2nd. She was rushed to the hospital, remained in a coma until she passed away on July 5th, 2023. 2023 was the 30th anniversary of Coco's debut in the industry. And her sisters wrote, As Coco's family, we are grateful and honored to have such a good, beautiful, and outstanding sister. We thank God for giving us such a kind angel. I hope she's gone to a happier place and no longer suffers from depression.
42:19At the same time, in addition to missing Coco, I hope you can all spread her signature bright smile and sincere heart. Pass kindness and love to everyone around you. Help Coco continue that wish to let everyone around her feel love and happiness. Although Coco didn't stay with us for long, her light will shine forever. Signed, Carol and Nancy. It was also revealed by the family that Coco Lee had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the months before she passed. She had hidden this cancer diagnosis not only from the world, but she also hid it from her elderly mother. She just didn't want to burden her or stress her out with this.
43:03She didn't even tell her that she had gotten the tumor removed. She got the operation during the filming of The Voice of China. and thankfully she was in stable condition and she was just fighting all of these battles by herself. Even on Coco's fan page where she was pretty active, she only ever showed her fans love and positivity. She never complained. She never alluded to the fact that her life was hard and people didn't know what she was going through. She never did any of that. On July 2nd, she left them a voicemail. Hi, darlings. It's Coco. I feel everyone's love and support for me. You guys are really like my support system.
43:46Well, I'm going to work hard. During this period, I hope everyone is happy and healthy. I'm working very hard. I miss you guys so, so much. Oh, and thank you so much for the gifts. Very beautiful and so, so thoughtful. I love you guys. Thank you so much for the gifts. Beautiful and very thoughtful. Love you guys. Her voice was upbeat, excited, and warm. and that just that was what she wanted her fans to remember her for because this was the last message that she wanted them to have this was the last time her fans would actually hear her voice and she wanted to sound happy for them because that night she would cut her life short and it just felt like the whole world went into mourning I mean my husband is not the most involved when it comes to pop culture other than like jay chow and i didn't know who coco was prior but i remember him being so shaken up when he heard this news he said that he had never seen her not smiling and i think that's like what netizens kept feeling was i mean i think everyone was so shocked in china that day because oh my gosh it's like you described like she's like the last person you expected you know so that's why it hurts so much like so shocking yeah and i think it's the idea of knowing that she's smiling for the world while she was holding all this pain inside and it's it's almost like a heartbreaking realization and you know of course of course the people most impacted by her passing are her family members her friends her colleagues her loved ones But since she had been a household name, an icon, a lot of netizens, they were gathering online to support each other while processing all this news.
45:34I mean, a lot of them took to highlighting all the impressive things that Coco had done, not just in her life, but in her career and everything. Coco was 23 when she was the first Chinese woman, Chinese singer, that sang at the World Cup opening ceremony. she sang crouching tiger hidden dragon at the 73rd oscars awards and interestingly she even received an invitation from the nba to sing during their opening coco was so shocked she's like when did i like sports what's going on but they told her that yao ming said in multiple interviews that coco was his icon and favorite artist and they wanted her there coco was also one of the very first Chinese artist to talk openly and on a global scale she would talk to a western journalist about how she wanted Chinese artists to be seen worldwide.
46:31She said there's western artists that the whole world listens to regardless of what language we all speak. Why can't there also be Chinese artists? She had to field all these racist questions from these western journalists that would ask her if she knew how to play all these super traditional Chinese instruments and she's like, what? I'm a pop singer. Yeah. I mean, she just always had been this strong figure that stood for representation, equality, hard work, and she was just so compassionate. And she was known for her smile.
47:11Because she passed in July and the voice drama happened in September and October-ish, netizens didn't really connect the two events until after her death a nine-minute voice message of hers was leaked the audio would reveal how she was severely mistreated bullied shamed humiliated and ultimately used by the voice of china in the voice recording you can practically hear her shaking. And the always strong Coco, she seemed like not even just hurt. She seemed devastated. Like someone had shattered her. I don't know if like a lot of people can relate to this, but I feel like everyone has a few moments in their lives where they almost feel like their hope in humanity is shattered.
48:00And it sounds like that. I do have to give you some context before we get into the audio. The best position for a baby to be born during birth is head down, right? That's why if the baby's head is not down, moms will be in pools. They'll be trying to do handstands in pools. Babies are less likely to experience complications like umbilical cord compression and other things during birth if they're head down. So that's the ideal position. Coco was not in that position when she was in her mother's tummy. So instead of being head down, Coco's feet were pointed towards her mom's pelvis. Now in these types of complex situations, doctors typically will opt for a cesarean, a c-section, instead of a natural birth.
48:45I don't know the specific reasoning of why they opted to try a natural birth anyway, but it was clear that something went very wrong. The doctor who delivered Coco pulled very hard on Coco's foot to get her out. They accidentally dislocated her left foot and her pelvis during this process. Baby Coco. So because of that, at just two years old, Coco had to undergo surgery where they put a metal rod into her leg. Yet they pulled her so hard out of her mother that her pelvis and leg were dislocated. And it just seemed like this would be a medical condition that she would struggle with her whole life.
49:32And that's crazy because she never told people because she didn't want them to see that on stage. She didn't want to be known for, oh, she did so well even with her leg. Really? Yeah. Throughout her entire career, she always struggled with massive, massive pain in her legs. She said when she's sitting, standing, walking, just on really bad days, there would be so much pain. When she was dancing on stage, nobody would ever guess that Coco had hip and leg problems. But she said that was the only time the pain went away, was when she was dancing. And she said, I'm sure it's probably because it's the only thing that made me truly happy.
50:16Because the minute that she would get off the stage, it would be shooting pain. so it took her a lot of physical time to recover from each concert now on the taping of the voice she said that her Coco's leg had gotten progressively worse potentially from the stress of her breast cancer diagnosis as well and just like the lengthy filming days so she wasn't allowed to really stand for long periods of time even her doctor was like you cannot hold your own weight for long periods of time like you need to have a cane or some sort of support like a walker Now for the sake of stage presence, because now she's singing with her student on stage, she's like, I don't want a cane.
50:53I don't want a wheelchair because that's all everyone will talk about. They're not going to talk about our performance. They're not going to talk about my student's talent. They're going to talk about why does Coco have a wheelchair? So Coco came up with this plan. She was going to be performing with her student on stage and they were going to stand next to each other so that she could lean on him for support. Since it seemed like mainly it was her left leg that was in a ton of pain, may be using him as support and to help balance. She could lean more on her right leg during the performance, right?
51:22Everyone agrees to it. She tells the producer. She makes it very clear to directors, producers, everyone on the show, the showrunners, everyone. But during the actual taping of the show, someone in the student's earpiece tells him, go to the other side of the stage. Because they're supposed to enter, I think, in different locations and then, you know, join together, not like walk on together. so he ends up completely on the other side of the stage singing and he looks stressed and confused because what like i i'm supposed to be there for coco but coco keeps going she sings and with nobody to lean on putting all of that pressure on her leg and trying to hold in this pain while she's singing thinking i mean just think about that pressure too first of all coco takes her profession very seriously but if coco messes up or cuts the performance short the person that suffers the most is not Coco.
52:15It's her student. So she's holding in the pain, singing her heart out. She ends up falling on the stage. Her leg gives out. And again, instead of ruining the moment for her student, she sits on the floor singing her heart out for her kid, right? It's not really her kid, but that's what she called them, my kids. After they were done, not a single producer or showrunner or production assistant came to help Coco up. Not a single person. The judges were so shocked. Finally, one of the celebrity judges starts walking on stage to help Coco, but a crew member runs on stage to drag her off. The judge that's trying to help Coco.
53:02And they like Coco said she could hear them being dragged backstage and the celebrity judge is just screaming at them like, what are you doing? Why is nobody helping her? And Coco said, literally for what reason? People said that they just wanted to humiliate Coco. They wanted to show her, hey, we run this show. We have the power here. There was no point in them doing any of this than just utter humiliation and heartlessness. That's why in the scene of her singing, remember how I said her head was just kind of like floating on one side. It was like weirdly edited. It's because she was on the ground.
53:37And they didn't want to show that. They didn't want to show that she had fallen. They didn't want anyone to know what Coco had endured. So they edited it to make it look like everything is fine. She never fell down. A few months after the show wrapped, Coco had to get another operation for her leg. Her hip joint had been dislocated and her nerves had been suppressed without any protection from her cartilage. And after the operation, she would have to relearn how to walk. In the nine minute audio clip that was released, Coco was talking about what happened the day of The Voice when she fell on stage.
54:10And she said, I was in so much pain. Let me tell you what my left leg felt like. It was like hypothermia, as if it was surrounded by snow below 40 degrees. It was so cold that it was almost numb. No, not even almost numb. It was numb. And let me tell you something else. I told them that I didn't want to be seen with crutches or a wheelchair on stage. I wanted to be strong. I just felt like I was giving my life away for this show. The doctors begged me not to go because of my breast cancer. They said it was a ticking time bomb, but I didn't care. I just loved the young people who participated and they were just so full of hope and love for music.
54:49And music is this universal language. It's our mutual language. About the performance where she collapsed, she said, I couldn't stand still. I had nothing to lean on since they took away my other student to the other side of the stage. I was wearing seven inch heels so that I could be pretty. I wanted to be beautiful for the show. I spent my own money buying the prettiest dress that I could find for the show, but I just couldn't stand. And I really tried to keep standing. Nobody on that show's production even thought about me for a second and it was so humiliating. I felt like I was being bullied, like nobody cared about my feelings.
55:30I'm the happiest when I dance and now I can't even dance anymore. She continued about the voice of China. I felt like it was okay if I sacrificed myself for young people, but I never imagined the show to be such monsters. So she's basically saying, even though doctors told me not to go on the show because of my breast cancer, I wanted to sacrifice even my health or potentially even her life really, because she wanted to help these young people. She had no idea she was walking into this crazy, disgusting environment. She said, they played me because I told the truth about her student getting eliminated with the higher points.
56:13She said, the truth is there's something wrong with their competition and their rules. The only reason I went back to filming was because I didn't want my students to lose a mentor suddenly. So I went. I went for the kids, but I told the producers their competition isn't fair. It's not fair and they need to change it. There were three other mentors. They had nine students, three on each team. I only had two. One of my students had to leave immediately, even though he had a higher score than everybody else. And I told them, that's not fair. Coco said the producer's assistants threatened to call security on her if she didn't immediately leave after she, quote, caused a scene about the unfair rules.
56:54She said, that's how they were talking to me. 28 years of being a singer, no one has ever talked to me like that. So I stood up. One of them started pulling on my shirt, getting physical. She tried to pull me off stage. But my team stopped that woman and screamed, don't touch her. So I know there's a lot going on right now. I need to give you a quick recap. The video clip was leaked. Remember when they were still airing of Coco being upset that her student was being eliminated despite having the higher score. The whole nation agreed with Coco. and there was so much outrage against the voice of China, that student was brought back into the competition and Coco released that tweet that I told you about where she stated things had been resolved.
57:35It was revealed in this nine minute audio clip. The only reason she tweeted that was because the show basically said, if you don't tweet this, we're not gonna bring your student back. She said, they threatened me, but I had to protect my student. For me, this show was nothing, but to him, it was everything. so I cleaned up after the show's mistakes. This part is very true if Coco didn't tweet the quote resolution statement the voice of China would most likely be dragged to filth and boycotted in the middle of a season. She wrote I just wanted my student to have another chance to sing to prove to the world how good he was and how much he deserved to be on the stage and I was mistreated but I still swallowed it.
58:16She said I watched the last episode it's like I was never on that show. All my hard work, all my efforts, my students, nothing was shown. It's like I was never on the program. I sacrificed for the kids who love music, even if it meant I was throwing my own life away. I just wanted to help. I don't speak Mandarin. I have the full translation of the audio, but I don't even think we all need to speak the same language to hear her pain through the clip. It's, I think it's, you can tell when someone has the voice of experiencing just severe injustice. It's not even anger. It's like unjust.
59:05After Coco's death, almost everyone stood up for her, including Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh. They all posted, Voice of China, apologize. eyes. Former winners of The Voice of China rebuked their title. They said, I don't want to be known as the winner. It's embarrassing. Former contestants that were too scared to speak out against The Voice, they started sharing their experiences. Some said you can never win with talent alone. Even if you're a 10 out of 10, if there's someone paying a producer that's a 6 out of 10, they're going to win the whole show. And it wasn't just contestants. Interns were coming out to say while working on the show, they felt used, overworked.
59:43Producers said, oh, put it on your card and I'll reimburse you for it. They were never reimbursed. Some of them worked on Coco's season and said, the crew were noticeably rude and physical with Coco. They would even yell at her for simple things like taking a bite out of a banana. Like she would munch on a banana real quick. They're not even filming. And they would just yell at her. Like, what are you doing? You're not supposed to be eating right now. The Voice of China's licensing company is a public company. It's a Chinese company. So each voice is licensed by a different organization per country, right?
1:00:18They are a public company and their share prices dropped by 24 % following this scandal. They temporarily suspended the voice of China stating it was going to be under investigation. Actually, the government was like, we're going to investigate. Let's just say we don't know the resolution, but it doesn't look like they're going to be coming back. and for a while the whole internet was just after the voice of china but things got a little bit more confusing because at coco's funeral another quote villain becomes trending on social media there was a strange incident where coco's billionaire husband and his two daughters from a previous marriage show up at the funeral and one of coco's sisters screams at bruce coco's billionaire husband, this evil man killed my sister.
1:01:08And that is how Bruce, Coco's husband, almost became public enemy number two on Chinese social media. So to get into her marriage, I'm going to briefly tell you about Coco's life. Coco's life kind of feels like a movie. Like there's a lot of ups and downs and through it all, it just, she's the main character is how it feels. Coco's mom was pregnant with Coco when their father passed away from pneumonia. And now Coco's mom was alone to raise her three daughters. And there were these stories about when Coco was small. She said that she had heard people around her mom telling her, just give her up for adoption.
1:01:49It's going to be sad, but she's the youngest, you know, she's going to be adoptable and it's going to be better for you and the other two daughters because she's going to get a family of her own and you can focus on your financial stability. This is just too hard. You can't raised three girls. Coco's mom absolutely refused. But it said that it didn't stop Coco from being scared that she was going to be quote given up at any time. And it's actually speculated that this is when she started smiling and being so positive because she wanted to be someone that people wanted to be around so that she could stay with her family.
1:02:25Eventually Coco's mom would remarry and moved to the US. And all of her sisters are so accomplished. One of them is a doctor, the other one's a lawyer. And so Coco is like, you know what? I'm gonna do that too, right? So in high school one day, she's studying really hard. She finally gets a weekend break, goes to a karaoke bar, and they're doing this little special. They're like, hey, you can record your own mixtape. They're like, but you gotta pay us for the karaoke session. She's like, okay, let's do it for fun. So all of her friends, they put their songs on this mixtape, and one of her friends takes it home.
1:02:57Coincidentally, that friend of Coco's, her family owns a restaurant. This is in the US. And they start playing Coco's tape at this Chinese restaurant. And customers would get up mid-meal, mid-bite, walk up to the counter and be like, Hey, who's the singer of this song? Wow. And they're like, Oh, she's a high school kid. Like, not even a famous kid. She's a literal high school kid. My daughter's friend. They're like, Was she selling an album? them? They're like, no, she's not. But this is when Coco was like, okay, maybe I can do something. So at 18, she moves to Hong Kong and she just starts doing all these singing competitions.
1:03:36It was really hard. She was signed in a label, but she was making no money for the first few years. She was making about$50 a month or living off$50 a month, just bread and noodles. That's it, nothing. And the first few albums, it just wasn't hitting. To give you some context, the conventional beauty standard at the time was super feminine. I mean, I guess it still is now, right? But more so back then. And Coco did not fit the visuals. And her voice sounded good in these types of songs, but her voice is like a strong, powerful, stable voice. And these songs were just not showcasing that. So for a really long time, it's not working until finally she's like, you know what?
1:04:17I'm just going to make some fun music. And it flew off the shelves. Her album sold a million physical copies within three months. The music video of the title song, Coco is wearing a fur coat with shiny red hair put up in space buns. She looked hot, powerful, glamorous, feminine, all at once. And everyone was like, oh my God, this is crazy. So the music trend at that moment was super sad and emo. Like every single artist looked like they were going through a breakup in their music video, you know, looking out the window crying. And here's Coco dancing so fun in a fur coat and space buns. And people were like, this is crazy.
1:04:57This is so good. So her label, they start leading into that Western side of Coco. And she was just this wild, free-spirited person. And people loved it, including a Canadian billionaire by the name of Bruce Rockowitz. He's a bit older than Coco. Okay, like 16 years older than Coco. And he was living in Hong Kong at the time, running a few businesses. That makes it sound like he's a small business owner, like a few major corporations, right? And the two, they just get swept up in this one year whirlwind romance. And he proposes to Coco with a nine carat diamond ring. And Coco's like, oh my God, yes, I do.
1:05:38But then immediately after she's like, wait, I don't know if I do. and it's not because she didn't love Bruce but the speculation was her dad passed when her mom was pregnant and it seemed like Coco would rather shield herself from the pain of losing someone she loved she would rather close herself off to that and you know with marriage it's really hard to do that you're like in it so she kept pushing off the marriage year after year they were engaged for like 8 years and in 2011 they finally got married their wedding reportedly cost around 20 million dollars some of the guests were jackie chan oprah winfrey beyonce which is wild you know like i'm sure coco was fine but imagine walking down the aisle and beyonce's watching you right but they were really just this very cute couple coco was always praising her husband and she said in an interview there are some people were only girls like them there are some people were only guys like them but bruce is the kind of person that everyone likes.
1:06:40He's nice. He's got a good heart and you can't help but want to get close to him. And when you talk to him, he just cares about everyone. He's very sincere. On Valentine's Day, they would buy each other flowers. She would wake up early if Bruce was out of the country for work and she would watch her husband's interviews on Bloomberg and she would proudly weigh Bo about it like a proud wife. And then I think somewhere along the line, things got tricky in the marriage. You know, some would say it fell apart. Some would say it got rough. I don't know. They were together for 20 years. That's all we know.
1:07:20I'm sure they went through a lot of ups and downs. It is alleged that one of the dark points in their relationship was when Coco was struggling to conceive. I don't think it's because Bruce blamed her for not being able to conceive or anything like that, or at least I didn't see any allegations of that. but I think just going through IVF is very taxing. I mean, you have to inject these long, thick fertility needles into your stomach for more than 10 days in a row to try and retrieve eggs. The whole retrieving of the eggs process is crazy and if it doesn't work, you have to go through another round.
1:07:53It's physically painful. Your hormones are all over the place. There's tremendous psychological pain involved. Coco apparently went through nine separate IVF attempts. Wow. Eventually, she would give up on that journey. And in 2020, people noticed that Coco was barely posting about her husband anymore. Instead of talking about his interviews on Bloomberg, she was now sharing quotes on Instagram that would read things like, Be strong to heal yourself because you can. It takes great courage and time to heal broken hearts. Courage is not innate, but requires continuous learning, improvement, and practice.
1:08:31I'm still in the process of learning and fighting too. at the beginning of 2023 there were rumors that bruce had cheated on her multiple times and the two were officially living separately the allegations were pretty specific the allegation was that coco treated bruce's two daughters as her own but when they found out about their father's infidelity they dropped coco they just stopped talking to her didn't care about her anymore was the allegation look i don't know i don't know if he cheated or didn't cheat i think only those that are close to Coco and Bruce know the truth. But that's not why he becomes a second villain in this story.
1:09:10There was another incident. So July 6, 2023, the day after Coco's passing, Bruce released an obituary in Chinese media saying that the whole family was by her side the day she passed. In addition to Bruce, his two daughters being listed on the obituary, it also included Coco's two sisters, Nancy and Carol. Nancy and Carol claimed that Bruce didn't even consult them about this obituary, that they had no idea that he was releasing this. So it didn't seem like a united front. It didn't seem like a family that was coming together to support each other. And then the funeral service incident took place.
1:09:49And honestly, I don't know how to feel about it. I don't think it's my place to make judgments. It does seem like the couple experienced a lot of ups and downs in their two-decade-long relationship. I don't think any of us, the netizens, will know exactly what happened behind closed doors. I don't even want to speculate because family relations are always just so tricky. But I will say that we do kind of know what happened behind closed doors, behind the voice of China. And I think that's something that shouldn't get lost in this relationship scandals that are coming up. I think this should be like a constant reminder to the industry that there are always going to be people that stand up for what is right.
1:10:29There's going to be people like Coco Lee that are not afraid to speak their minds. And I think netizens are going to support them. This case is not just the death of one of the brightest stars in the industry. But it's the fact that her death exposed some of the industry's darkest secrets. and just how Coco lived till the very end, trying to instill some integrity into this industry. She was so passionate about the art itself, singing, dancing, performing. She just wanted to share that with people, to teach people that. And that's what we should remember her for. Someone who made a career out of her passion and someone who passed to make sure that everyone else behind her could also do the same.
1:11:17I think it's also just another reminder to us that people around us that seem the most bubbly or laugh the easiest and the loudest, they might be the ones fighting some of the biggest demons. So let's just all show each other some compassion. Two of Coco's closest friends spoke at her funeral. Coco had tried to exit on July 2nd, but she ended up passing away on July 5th. And a sad coincidence was, it was the day of her best friend's daughter's birthday. During her speech, her best friend emotionally said, My daughter is this adorable little girl. July 5th is her birthday. But Coco chose to leave us on this day.
1:11:59She played a huge joke on me, and I don't like it. Every day on this year, am I supposed to celebrate my daughter's birthday, or am I supposed to mourn Coco's death? She shouldn't have played this joke on me. Coco's other best friend stated, I still can't accept the fact that this happened. You be an angel in the heavens, Coco, and we will meet as angels one day. I love you, Coco, forever. And that is the case of Coco Lee and the cancellation behind The Voice of China. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Please stay safe out there, and I will see you guys on Sunday for the mini-sode. Bye.
From the publisher
Coco Lee was more than just a singer - she was an absolute legend in most Chinese households. She was known for her talent, but her signature was her big smile and fiery personality. And after 28 years in the industry, she wasn’t slowing down now.
Her most recent project - she was a judge on The Voice Of China.
June 2, 2023 - Coco Lee left a voice message for her fan group telling them how much she loves them, thanks them for their support, and misses them. She was always such a positive ray of sunshine to her fans.
That very same day, Coco Lee would be dead.
Soon after, a 9-minute audio clip was released revealing to the world that Coco Lee had endured bullying, humiliation, and abuse while on set for The Voice Of China. This is the case of how one of the most famous shows in China played an “evil” role in the death of an icon.
Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com
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