NOC's Sylvia Chan apologises, removes herself from artiste lineup

Singaporean YouTuber and co-founder of Night Owl Cinematics (NOC), Sylvia Chan (pictured), has apologised on Instagram following accusations of her allegedly using slur and mistreating her employees. In her post, she said that she had not lived up to expectations of her. "For some of you, I even have your jobs, your livelihoods, your commitments in my hands; and I truly am sorry if I did not step up to the standards you expect from a leader," she said in her post.

Chan also added that she will be removed from NOC's lineup of artistes. "I agree alongside with the leadership, that as a talent and content creator, I do not deserve the current job opportunities NOC offers. Hence, I will take time to reflect," she said.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CU97oEuvzV9/

She apologised to her teams and promised to do better, thanking them for supporting the company despite the shortcomings of their leader. "I was driven by work and did not think of how it would affect the bigger picture. I always thought that a leader should be tough and now I realise, that I may have come on too strong, and people have now perceived me to be unkind and rude," Chan explained. She added that this was a difficult but much-needed lesson for her to learn about management and leadership.

With regards to her alleged bullying of an employee named Samantha Tan, Chan clarified that she was a contestant and eventual winner of NOC's reality show kNOCkout. However, late into production, Chan found out that Tan had an existing three-year bond with a government agency and thus, will not be able to sign a full-time contract with NOC, which was the grand prize of the show. 

Chan said that in her anger, she vented to her colleagues behind the scenes in private conversations with them, and made her sentiments clear so that other contestants would have an opportunity to join NOC as a full-time content creator. "Tan is kind and talented - there are no doubts about that. Whatever I shared to my colleagues do not represent what I feel about her as a person but towards the situation," she explained.

Chan was previously alleged to have been openly discriminatory towards Tan. An audio recording circulating online and on the Instagram account named sgcickenrice revealed Chan saying "that b*tch is f*cking dumb", when talking about Tan. 

(Read also: 'Brands win when influencers are embroiled in controversy,' says Xiaxue on NOC furore)

In her Instagram apology, Chan said Tan has since reached out and made peace with her. However, Tan made a few clarifications on her end regarding kNOCkout. In a series of stories on her Instagram, Tan said that she had signed the contract with NOC prior to filming the show; and she did notify them of her bond beforehand. She added that a lawyer from NOC also reviewed her contract to make sure that she was allowed to have two contracts running at the same time. Tan also clarified that all eight participants in the show - including herself - signed a three-year talent contract with NOC prior to filming, which implied that all of them were "granted the grand prize" regardless of the winner in the show.

Nonetheless, Chan said it was heartbreaking to see NOC be taunted by an anonymous account "intent to cancel and destroy [the company]" through this campaign against her. "It is equally soul wrenching to helplessly witness brands and creators who have worked with me get harassed by association. I hope that this would stop," she said.

Chan came under the spotlight recently after being accused of bullying employees and using slurs. The sgcickenrice Instagram account also showed screenshots of Chan being unwilling to correspond with influencers directly as they are "stupid", which she then corrected to "not so smart". Some netizens defended NOC previously, explaining that the public should not show their hate for NOC as a whole because of "one or two people". Colgate has also terminated its partnership with her while MILO clarified that it is currently not working with Chan on any projects.

Subsequently, NOC broke its silence and claimed that the statements were "a massive crusade" against the public image and reputation of NOC and its employees. The company also claimed in an Instagram post that the "present attacks" have been "carefully crafted and mounted" on the company and its employees. It added that the excerpts published were "cherry-picked abstract communications between private individuals carefully showcased to paint a wholly negative picture". Instagram account sgcickenrice, which has been publishing screenshots and audio clips supporting the allegations against Chan, also received a lawyer's letter from NOC. Sgcickenrice has since received legal support from Eugene Thuraisingam LLP.

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