Donnie Yen and family walk out of charity dinner

On Monday (March 25), Hong Kong martial arts star Donnie Yen and his wife, former beauty queen Cissy Wang, along with their daughter Jasmine Yen attended a charity gala dinner organised by amfAR in Hong Kong.

However, the trio, who had walked the red carpet at the event, were an eventual no-show at the dinner itself, with Cissy taking to her Instagram later that night to explain the family’s absence.

"One of my favorite films this year is the Green Book. So much to learn from human kindness, respect, arrogance, racial discrimination and dignity. Never would I imagine to experience certain aspects of this film, in this day and age, especially in our own hometown (sic)”, she wrote in English.

Continuing on, she wrote, ”Tonight we experienced discrimination by an organization from overseas. Prioritized and supported a charity but in return was shocked by the treatment. (sic)” She ended her post with a Chinese phrase, “The Chinese are not the sick men of East Asia,” which Donnie utters while playing the martial arts expert, Chen Zhen, in the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen.

​According to an insider who was present during the event, Donnie and his family felt that they were not “treated appropriately” as celebrity guests at the event. Cissy later revealed in an interview with Hong Kong media that the staff and ushers at the event were dismissive towards them as well. When the trio requested for a change in seats, they were rejected.

Angry at the perceived slight from the organisers, the family of three then left the event entirely. Although the organisers had telephoned Donnie with an apology and an offer to change their seats after he had left the venue, the 55-year-old chose not to return.