S’pore Influencer Rachel Wong’s Alleged Breach of Religion and Defamation Lawsuit Defined – Mothership.SG
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You may have heard of a defamation lawsuit involving local influencer Rachel Wong.
Wong is suing Olivia Wu for defamation after she accused Wong of infidelity in a series of Instagram stories.
However, in the recent development of the case, the court granted Wu access to Wong’s correspondence (such as text messages) and diary entries to justify the Instagram stories she posted about Wong.
If you’re pretty lost but still intrigued (read: kaypoh) about the whole thing, here are the facts about what happened.
Rachel Wong and the Annulment of Marriage
Wong, also known as @rachelwongggg on Instagram, is a host, talent, and social media influencer with approximately 42,000 followers.
Photo from Rachel Wong’s Instagram page.
In December 2019, Wong married Singaporean footballer Anders Aplin.
The former couple studied marketing at Nanyang Business School of Nanyang Technological University.
They met the first week of school at a freshman orientation camp, but didn’t get to know each other until they went on a trip to Tioman with the school’s diving club.
However, the marriage did not last long.
In April 2020, four months after the wedding, the nullity proceedings began.
According to Lawnet, the marriage was legally annulled in March 2021.
Image (now deleted) from Anders Aplin’s Instagram page.
Image (now deleted) from Anders Aplin’s Instagram page.
Instagram Stories about alleged fraud
In December 2020, while the annulment proceedings were still ongoing, Wu began posting several Instagram stories on her Instagram page.
The stories, titled “Cheaterof2020,” suggested Wong Aplin had been unfaithful, and some of the allegations were “worked out in detail.”
Read along with the title “Cheaterof2020,” Wong argued that the Instagram Stories meant:
- She had committed infidelity on her wedding day (December 27, 2019).
- She had sexual relations with her wedding host (Alan) Wan on their wedding night
- She had no intention of marrying her ex-husband Aplin
- She had ruined more than one person’s life
- She was promiscuous
- She was mentally ill and should seek help
- She has no morals
- She will fail a character check by Mediacorp
- She was shameless
As a result, Wong claimed the Instagram stories were defamatory and damaged her reputation.
It was particularly detrimental to Wong, who worked as an influencer and relied on her “reputation, looks and social media image to attract and keep business deals through partnerships” to make a living.
Wu countered that the Instagram stories were not defamatory as they were “essentially true” and mostly disagreed with Wong’s interpretations of the stories.
According to Wu, Wong had apparently been intimate with at least two people, namely:
- A man, Han, who was Wong’s fitness trainer; and
- A man, Wan, who was the emcee at Wong and Aplin’s wedding
Wong denies Wu’s allegations
Wu had submitted screenshots to support her claims that Wong and Han had had intimate and sexual conversations over text messages on Telegram.
Wong’s diary entry and an “intimate photo” of Wong and Wan were also displayed in Wu’s defense.
They were used to back up Wu’s claim, which Wong had been familiar with and had feelings for Wan when she was still romantically involved with Aplin.
Wong’s lawyer stressed that Wong had denied Wu’s allegations.
The influencer explained that the photo of her and Wan was taken after she and Wan had spent the night with other friends and she only fell asleep with him on the sofa.
Furthermore, Wong’s diary entry apparently only depicted Wan “as a friend who gave her support and advice during a difficult time.”
Wong confirmed in an affidavit that she had no correspondence with Han or diary entries about Wan, except for the entry she showed in her defense.
However, Wong’s denial was deemed “insufficient” to make the issue moot.
Photo from Rachel Wong’s Instagram page.
Wong also explained in the affidavit that she deleted her messages with Han as she “had a habit of consistently deleting old text messages and photos to free up storage space” — but Wu showed screenshots of messages exchanged between Wong and Han became.
Despite the news, Wong claimed in an affidavit that her correspondence with Han was deleted “a long time ago.” [she] even considered filing a lawsuit against” Wu.
Wong also stated that after reviewing her diary, she “can certify under oath that there are no other diary entries” related to Wan.
However, the diary entry issued in Wu’s defense (dated January 6) provided some details of Wong’s “then young feelings” for Wan.
In addition, Wong has since started a relationship with Wan.
Photo from Rachel Wong’s Instagram page.
Wu’s Uno reverse card
Wu drew an Uno reversal card move against Wong and sought an order from Wong to disclose her correspondence and diary entries with Wan and Han to bolster her defenses.
Wong opposed Wu’s request for access to such materials, saying it was a “fishing expedition” that violated her privacy and confidentiality.
Wong’s attorney also argued that Wu did not know Wong prior to posting the Instagram stories and the documents sought could not be material on which to base her justification, claiming that this defeated the point of relevance and necessity.
However, state court assistant registrar Lewis Tan said the documents sought were “clearly relevant” and would help determine whether the content of the stories was true and would adversely affect or aid either Wong’s or Wu’s case.
The court ruled in favor of Wu’s order, but limited it to the following:
- All correspondence exchanged between Wong and Han from June 2016 to June 2020;
- All correspondence between Wong and Wan from June 2018 to June 2020; and
- Wong’s diary entries related to Wan from June 2018 to June 2020.
Wong, through her attorney, told The Straits Times that she was disappointed with the decision but “trusted[s] and respect[s]“Outcome and appeal process.
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Top pics from @rachelwongggg on Instagram.
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