Jackie Chan has discussed his life of alcohol problems, prostitutes and being a bad father.
SCMP reports that Jackie Chan has admitted to sleeping with prostitutes, alcohol problems and hitting his son.
In his new autobiography titled Never Grow Up, the Hong Kong actor described himself as a “total jerk” and a “bastard.”
Chan admitted to driving drunk “all the time” and even crashed his Mercedes and Porsche on the same day.
The 64-year-old actor said that he splurged on alcohol, gambling and prostitutes to “get back on the ones who looked down on me”.
“I started to carry large amounts of cash at all times,” he said.“After you live in poverty, cash gives you a sense of security.”
Not all the money was spent on himself, however. “I like having lots of people around me and every meal was with a big gang,” Chan said. “Around 10 years ago I spent US$2 million in one year paying for other people’s meals. I gave out extravagant gifts too; watches, cars, custom-made leather jackets, cases of expensive wine.”
Chan touched upon his relationship with Taiwanese actress Teresa Teng, saying he is aware he treated her badly.
“I behaved so badly because of my deep insecurities,” he said. “Ever since I was a little boy I’d been looked down on by rich kids.”
“Any whiff of snobbishness or superiority set me on edge. This attitude reflected by relationship with Teresa. But it wasn’t her fault. She’d done nothing wrong and I’d been horribly unfair to her.”
Chan also discussed his relationship with “love of [his] life” Joan Lin, who he described as a “belovedactress with a respectable image while I was a vulgar kung fu guy who was unworthy of her.”
He became convinced by others that Lin had become pregnant in order to take his money. As a result, he did not visit her during her pregnancy in California and cheated on her with actress and former Miss Asia Elaine Ng — who he also impregnated.
Chan described his behaviour towards Lin as “wicked”.
“I was selfish and didn’t know how to empathize with others,” he said. “I was also too easily influenced. Yet Joan set me free to make my own way. I respect her a lot and am grateful to her for sacrificing so much for me.”
Whilst focusing on his career, he neglected his family. One year, Chan spent $2 million on food and gifts for him and his friends whilst the mothers of his children were taking care of their kids on their own.
Chan also mistreated his son Jaycee, admitting that he acted aggressively towards him when he was a baby.
“When [my son Jaycee] was still young, I hit him once, and was very heavy-handed – directly lifting him and throwing him onto the sofa,” Chan wrote. “That time I really scared him and his mother to death, and I myself was very regretful.”
“I’ve done well by a lot of people but not my own family,” Chan said. “I’ve not been a good father or a good husband but I did my duty to my son and his mother.”
In related news, Chan recently made a tribute to late Marvel Comic legend Stan Lee.
