"That's a bit embarrassing" (note to self, let's try and be a bit more culturally sensitive)

Singer Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) has stirred up a hornet’s nest with his latest effort to promote his self-directed film Love in Disguise (戀愛通告) by offending Muslims.

In the face of tough competition from Hollywood heavyweight Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables, Lee-hom’s production team came up with what appeared to be a good idea at the time.

They put the head of one of his disguised roles in the film, who looks like China’s “handsome beggar” Brother Sharp (Xili Ge, 犀利哥), on Stallone’s steroid-pumped body to claim some attention for their own film.

Lee-hom then uploaded the photoshopped photo on the Internet on Saturday.

While most netizens thought it was funny, many Muslims didn’t.

They claimed this was disrespectful to their god, Allah, as the character’s name is Mu Ha Mu De (母哈母德), which sounds similar to Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

To calm their righteous fury, Lee-hom wrote: “Sorry if there was any confusion … didn’t mean to offend anyone!“

Source: Apple Daily

Wang Lee-hom’s Facebook page

Wang Lee-hom, right