G.E.M Breaks Down Talking About The “Mental Abuse” She Suffered Under Her Former Record Label

Last year, Hongkong singer G.E.M had a very public fall-out with her former record label Hummingbird Music and both parties have been engaged in a legal dispute for more than a year.

G.E.M filed a lawsuit against Hummingbird, alleging they had harmed her reputation and engaged in illegal or unlawful activities and attempted to coerce or pressure her into taking part. She was also faced with the possibility of having to change her stage name G.E.M (her actual name is Gloria Tang Tsz-kei) after Hummingbird trademarked it, along with her Chinese stage name Deng Ziqi, in Hongkong and China without her approval.

During a recent appearance on Chinese talk show Shede Wisdom Talents, the 29-year-old opened up about the grievances she had with Hummingbird, which she had been an artiste with for 11 years, and how they had taken a toll on her mentally.

One of them was the controversy she caused on the third season of Chinese singing competition I Am A Singer because she had her refused to change her song choice.

G.E.M explained that she was willing to make the change, but her then-agency told her not to bow down to the TV station’s requests. She was then widely criticised for her diva behaviour , which left the singer feeling very wrong. According to G.E.M, she cried over the incident for seven days, and even contemplated writing a suicide note to prove her innocence.

G.E.M also shared about the “mental abuse” she had suffered under Hummingbird. She confessed tearfully that she once felt like she had suffered from depression and that her mental state was “not quite right”.

Choking up, she said: “For many years, I felt that I was just as what they said…that I was just a product [they] created and that this product is nothing without them.

“On stage, I look like I am very confident and that I know what I want, but I never realised that deep down I was very scared and I agreed with them, it was as though I would die without them.”

Breaking down, she added she was “afraid [she] was nothing without music” and that this fear has been with her for many years.

Photos: G.E.M, 捨得智慧人物/Weibo