Singer Wang Leehom’s divorce with estranged wife Lee Jinglei approved in US
TAIPEI – The acrimonious divorce battle between American-Taiwanese singer Wang Leehom and his wife Lee Jinglei showed no signs of abating in their latest salvo, with lawyers from both sides refuting each other’s version of events.
Taiwanese magazine Mirror Media reported on Wednesday that Wang’s divorce application in New York had been approved recently.
According to Mirror Media, under United States law, Wang has to foot the legal fees, reportedly exceeding NT$1 million (S$43,430), as he was the plaintiff who filed for divorce.
The divorce battle has now moved back to Taiwan, with Mirror Media spotting the estranged couple when they appeared separately with their teams at the family court in New Taipei City last Wednesday.
Wang, 47, and Lee, 37, also left the court separately after more than an hour. Both sides declined to comment when they were asked by Mirror Media if they had “reached a consensus”.
Wang and Lee were previously engaged in a war of words on social media after news of their split broke in December 2021, with Lee accusing Wang of multiple infidelities in a bombshell expose. They have three children aged four to eight.
Soon after Mirror Media broke the news on Wednesday morning, Lee’s lawyer reacted to the report, saying that Wang was at fault and would have to compensate Lee for the legal fees.
Wang’s lawyer then released a statement expressing his regret that Lee was pinning all the blame on Wang.
“The US court did not find Mr Wang having any fault in the divorce and granted the divorce based on the divorce agreement between both parties. Mr Wang is very grateful to the court for granting the divorce and finally ending the turmoil in his marriage with Ms Lee,” said the statement.
The lawyer said in the statement that Lee had already acquired a huge property based on the divorce agreement, but she then tried to claim a huge amount of more than US$10 million (S$13.5 million) in the US lawsuit.
The lawyer said this caused the hearing of this case to be prolonged, though her request was rejected by the New York court.
Lee’s lawyer then released a statement rejecting the version of events, saying that the case was prolonged as Wang filed an appeal and refused to pay family support in accordance with the agreement.
“As Ms Lee Jinglei has voluntarily given up vying for any property belonging to Mr Wang from the beginning to now, she did not gain a single cent of his property because of the divorce,” the statement said.
The statement also said that the apartment that Wang promised her in his apology in December 2021 has so far remained under his name and yet to be transferred to her.
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