the first intimate photograph, with likenesses of chen and gillian chung, was posted on the hong kong discuss forum at approximately 8:30 p.m. on 27 january 2008. although the original post was deleted after a few hours, the image did the rounds at other major forums in hong kong such as uwants and hkgolden. chung's management agency, emperor entertainment group (eeg), immediately challenged its authenticity, and filed a police report. the following day, a second explicit photograph of chen with another starlet appeared on the internet. eeg denounced the person who released it. gillian chung had taken a leave of absence, and would not comment on the matter. shaped by the denials, the initial media consensus was that the photographs were hoaxes. nevertheless, the story became the headline of major local hong kong newspapers.