Nicholas Tse’s 12-year-old son with Cecilia Cheung is making headlines, but this time, it’s not because Lucas is growing up to become Dad’s mini-me, nor is it about his holidays in Singapore with mum Cecilia Cheung and younger brother Quintus.

Recent Chinese reports claim that Lucas allegedly spoke to reporters about his relationship with his dad. “My brother and I rarely see him because he’s busy. If I’m sick or if my younger brother has a fever, it’s my mum who takes care of us. I don’t regret their divorce; he’s not good enough for her,” Lucas was reported saying. Some netizens are skeptical about these reports, as the tween seldom speaks to the press.

Nicholas has rubbished speculations over his supposedly rocky relationship with his sons in a lengthy, strong-worded statement released via his management, Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG) yesterday (Oct 23), calling it out as fake news, and that it is “misleading”.

“We hereby clarify that our artiste has a good relationship with his children and they get along well. The misleading and malignant gossip that has been spreading online has been affecting the children and is causing serious problems. Our artiste reiterates that he will take measures to protect his children, and will not tolerate any individuals or media platforms that create untruthful reports at the expense of his kids,” the statement declared.

“Our company and our artiste do not condone such behaviour, and we urge anyone doing so to immediately stop. We will not hesitate to pursue the matter using legal action.”

Since their divorce in 2011, Nic and Ceci have remained on civil terms, and the boys have been raised almost single-handedly by Mum, who’s been spotted taking them on holidays and driving the boys to and from school. Ceci also has another son, Marcus, who was born last year, but the baby daddy's identity is still unknown.

Nicholas, who’s since reunited and is currently in a stable relationship with Faye Wong, visits his son every fortnight, sometimes even once a week, according to Nic’s dad Patrick Tse. The veteran actor also revealed that he’d go to Nic’s home to see his grandsons.

“It has come to our attention that there are media reports using misleading headlines and/or reporting fake news about the relationship of our artiste, Mr Nicholas Tse (hereafter known as ‘our artiste’) and his eldest son.

“Our company and our artiste take this matter very seriously. We hereby clarify that our artiste has a good relationship with his children and they get along well. The misleading and malignant gossip that has been spreading online has been affecting the children and is causing serious problems. Our artiste reiterates that he will take measures to protect his children, and will not tolerate any individuals or media platforms who create untruthful reports at the expense of his kids. For the sake of the children, we ask the media not to publish false reports and harass [the children]. These harmful reports will not only have a negative impact on the children, but also inconvenience their lives.

“This level of bad journalism not only misleads the public and readers, but also damages our company and our artiste’s reputation, and affects our artiste’s positive image. We urge the public and journalists to recognise the truth and not be misled by fake news.

“Our company and our artiste do not condone such behaviour, and we urge anyone doing so to immediately stop. We will not hesitate to pursue the matter using legal action.”