Aaron Yan Shows Up Unannounced At Yao Le’s Press Conference, Denies All #MeToo Allegations

Following his bombshell #MeToo revelation, content creator Yao Le held a press conference to further address the situation—where Aaron Yan also showed up unannounced, surprising all.

Earlier, Yao Le revealed that the Taiwanese singer-and-actor Aaron Yan had raped him when he was underage. Aaron Yan responded via Facebook, apologizing to Yao Le and offering to help him “get through all the pain and do whatever it takes to make up for what happened.”

Taiwanese Star Aaron Yan Accused of Raping His 16-Year-Old Ex-Boyfriend in #MeToo Revelation

At the press conference, however, Aaron Yan addressed Yao Le, the press, and the public and denied all the claims being made against him.

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To Yao Le, Aaron Yan was apologetic. Aaron Yan bowed to Yao Le as he assured Yao Le that he won’t interfere with the press conference.

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Yao Le. I’m here to sincerely apologize to you for letting you bear with things that you shouldn’t have had to bear within your life. I’m really sorry. Sorry. [Bows] This is your press conference. You probably have a lot of things to say, so I’ll leave it to you. If there are any issues going forward, I’ll respond. If you want to get in touch with me, that’s fine too.

— Aaron Yan

To the reporters at the press conference, though, Aaron Yan was firm in claiming that all “was consensual.”

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Reporter: How did you feel about the accusations [Yao Le] made?
Aaron Yan: I did not do anything against his wishes. This is true. We were in a relationship.
Reporter: So, did you secretly film [you two having sex]?
Aaron Yan: No. It was definitely not taken in secret.
Reporter: It was consensual, then?
Aaron Yan: Yes.
Reporter: So [Yao Le] knew at that time.
Aaron Yan: He knew.
Aaron Yan: I didn’t force him to do anything against his wishes. I couldn’t imagine he’d use this method to…

Meanwhile, Yao Le criticized Aaron Yan for apologizing too late, as well as for “trying to mislead the public.” 

Yao Le also revealed that, after the #MeToo post, Aaron Yan tried to get in touch. Needing time and space, Yao Le did not answer. Upon coming across Aaron Yan’s response that followed, though, Yao Le decided to “stand up for [himself].”

His apology should not come after I’ve exposed everything. He said in his post that he has tried to change in the past few years, but how? Is it only when it comes to other victims? Am I not important or what? He’s only apologizing after everything’s been revealed. The apology is not sincere. It’s unnecessary. He should respond to what I’ve said first and stop trying to mislead the public.

He sent me messages and called me. I didn’t pick up. I was not ready yesterday. Since I just revealed all of this, I think we need to give each other some space. I was waiting for his response yesterday, but his response ended up being like this, so I wanted to stand up for myself today so he faces all of this squarely.

— Yao Le

Watch the full clip of Aaron Yan showing up at Yao Le’s press conference below.