Taiwanese host apologises for watching K-drama on illegal streaming site

Taipei — If you can afford it, you would probably have no problem paying for every available (legal) streaming service there is, right? Most of the time, it is quite easy on the pocket.

Interestingly, Taiwanese host Pauline Lan Hsin-Mei, who has a reported net worth of NT$1.5bil (SGD72.4mil) decided to get her K-drama fix through alternative means.

The 55-year-old posted two photos of her TV on June 20, showing that she was watching South Korean TV series Navillera. 

The Korean TV series is available on Netflix but there was a suspicious-looking watermark at the bottom of the screen. This showed that Lan was watching the series on an illegal streaming website instead. Uh-oh.

It was not long before the Taiwanese host was on the receiving end of backlash from netizens who pretty much scolded her for being stingy, as reported by 8days.sg.

Comments include: “It’s more proper to go through paid platforms like Netflix”, “Did no one tell you that you’re watching a pirated copy? Netflix is only NT$300 (about SGD14) a month”, and “Public figures should not show that they’re supporting piracy”.

Lan finally responded to the incident on Thursday (July 1) by posting another video of her TV and this time, the host made sure to include Netflix’s iconic opening intro to prove that she was no longer watching it illegally.

She also left a comment on a news outlet’s Facebook post on the saga, sharing a photo of her Netflix list and writing, “This this this… time it’s correct, right?”

In another comment, the star apologised for her actions and sounded genuinely terrified of the consequences of her mistake. “Sorry, sorry! Netizens have informed me and I’ve changed to [Netflix]. Sorry, sorry, I was scared to death.”

And just like that, the controversy came to an end. Born in November 1965, Pauline Lan Xinmei is a Taiwanese host, actress, singer and businesswoman./TISG