Jackie Chan hasn't exactly been the gold standard of husbands or fathers, he admits in his shocking new memoir.
In "Never Grow Up," the actor admits to spending a lot of money on women, drinking and gambling when he was younger. However, the most telling admission, which include infidelity and domestic violence, are far more personal.
"In 1999, I made a serious mistake," he wrote while speaking of an affair with beauty queen Elaine Ng Yi Lei, the 1990 Miss Asia. "When the news broke about an affair I'd had that resulted in a child, the media frenzy was like a bomb going off. I wanted to phone [wife] Joan but I didn't know what to say. I wouldn't be able to explain this."
Etta Ng, Jackie's estranged daughter, made headlines earlier this year when she said that she and her partner were homeless and sleeping under a bridge "due to homophobic parents." Last week, she announced that she had married girlfriend Andi Autumn, a Canadian internet celebrity.
To this day, Jackie does not acknowledge the daughter.
In fact, the legendary actor, who has two children, doesn't claim to be the best father in the world, even writing, "children these days are often misbehaved and should be hit."
He did just that once to his son Jaycee, now 36.
"When [my son Jaycee] was still young, I hit him once, and was very heavy-handed – directly lifting him and throwing him onto the sofa," Jackie said. "That time I really scared him and his mother to death, and I myself was very regretful."
While detailing the abuse against his son, Jackie recalled, "Joan and I were having an argument. We reached a stalemate, so I walked out, slammed the door, and went to see [producer] Leonard Ho. He counseled me for a long time and finally said, 'What are you doing? There's no need for this. Just go back home, and you can both apologize.'
"When I got there, Joan was on the sofa, laughing and chatting with a female friend. That made me angry… Just as I was about to say something to her, Jaycee ran in, his hands pointed at me like guns, shouting 'Bang! Bang!' like he was shooting me to avenge his mother. Then he snatched the keys out my hand and threw them on the floor. When I bent down to pick them up, he kicked my hand away! I was furious."
Jackie said, "I picked him up with one hand and flung him across the room, and he crashed into the sofa."
The memoir will be released on Dec. 4.