Xie Zhenting issued a statement clarifying that he was absent from court: due to an acute attack of mental illness, not pretending to be ill.

[Reporter Qiu Yiqin/Taipei Report] 32-year-old singer-songwriter Hsieh Chen-ting failed to appear in court during the trial of a case involving threatening his ex-girlfriend with a knife, which attracted attention from the outside world. Some reports even described him as "an excuse to see a doctor" and "absent from court without warning." In this regard, Xie Zhenting issued a long statement late at night on the 2nd, emphasizing that he was unable to appear in court that day due to an acute attack of mental illness. Not only had he taken the initiative to ask for leave from the court beforehand, he also submitted medical certificates and relevant information afterwards to refute outside doubts.

Xie Zhenting made a public statement to refute the outside world's doubts about "pretending to be ill and absent from the court session". (File photo, taken by reporter Wang Wenlin)

Xie Zhenting said that in the past, when faced with many inaccurate, one-sided and even distorted reports, most of them chose silence and tolerance, and did not want to waste a lot of time on repeated defenses. However, Xie Zhenting admitted that the long-term accumulation of wrong information has seriously affected his life, health and basic survival, so he decided to fully explain the incident for the first time and no longer remain silent on reports that are inconsistent with the facts.

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In response to external questions about not appearing in court in accordance with the notice, Xie Zhenting pointed out that on the day of the trial on August 25, due to an acute attack of mental illness and severe physical discomfort, he took the initiative to call the court to ask for leave long before the trial. The relevant call records can be verified. Later, the clerk called again to confirm the situation, and Xie Zhenting also further explained his condition, but emphasized that he did not ask for leave on the grounds of physical discomfort after being contacted by the court, as some media reports claimed. "The actual time sequence is not like this."

Xie Zhenting issued a statement late at night on the 2nd. (Photo taken from IG)

Xie Zhenting revealed that he had sought medical treatment and obtained a medical certificate that day, and personally submitted the relevant information to the court the next day. The case has now been rescheduled for trial on October 19. He said that he originally had no intention of disclosing the disease and treatment, but after the relevant information was reported, he had to come forward to explain. He admitted that the disease was originally a very personal matter, but now it is described as an excuse to evade responsibility, and even makes the outside world mistakenly think that he is pretending to be ill, which makes him feel quite hurt.

Xie Zhenting also emphasized that as a person who has been living with mental illness for a long time, what he needs is professional medical assistance, not outside speculation and prejudice. Therefore, he has kept relevant call records, medical certificates and court receipt information, and asked the media that published inaccurate information to correct the content. "Reports can be criticized, but the things must be correct; diseases can be reported, but they should not be stigmatized."

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[Full text of Xie Zhenting’s statement]

In the past, when faced with many media reports that were inaccurate, one-sided, and even distorted the facts, I mostly chose silence and forbearance.

It’s not because those reports are true, nor because they didn’t cause me any harm, but I always believe that instead of spending a lot of time and energy defending myself again and again, I would rather put my limited life and energy into creation and things that truly contribute to society.

However, the long silence did not stop the hurt. The impact of these false reports has long gone beyond just a few news items or a few words on the Internet. It has truly and seriously invaded my life, health, and basic survival.

Therefore, after thinking over and over for a long time, I decided not to remain silent on reports that were clearly inconsistent with the facts, and for the first time I took such seriousness to leave a complete explanation for myself.

In response to some media reports on my court date on August 25, 2026, which included "absent without warning," "freeing the court," "showing physical discomfort only after calling the court," and even directly describing me as "an excuse to see a doctor," I hereby file a formal clarification and protest.

This is not the case.

On August 25, I was unable to appear in court due to an acute attack of mental illness and severe physical discomfort. I had proactively called the court to ask for leave before the trial. The date and time of the relevant call are documented.

Later, the clerk did call me again to confirm the situation, and I further explained my physical discomfort at that time during the call.

But what must be clarified is:

This call was not the first time that I applied for leave to the court or explained my inability to appear in court. It occurred after I had proactively contacted the court to request leave before the trial.

Therefore, if the incident is presented as if I did not contact the court in advance, but only raised the disease factor after the court called, it will be different from the actual chronological sequence of events.

I did seek medical treatment on the day of the hearing and obtained the medical certificate for that day. I also went to the court in person the next day and formally submitted the medical certificate for that day, past treatment information and relevant supporting evidence to the court. The judicial process is still ongoing, and the next court date has been rescheduled for October 19.

Therefore, describing me as "absent without warning", or presenting illness as a factor after being contacted by the court, is not consistent with the objective records kept by me; and when I did seek medical treatment on that day and have submitted a medical certificate for that day, using "excuses" to describe my medical treatment not only caused the public to misunderstand the facts, but also caused great harm and stigma to me.

In fact, initially, I had no intention of disclosing my disease and treatment status to the public.

It was only after the relevant information was reported by the media and entered the public eye that I had to publicly face and explain the fact that I was ill.

Illness is inherently an extremely personal matter. When I finally chose to face it calmly, now I see my illness being described as an "excuse to evade responsibility" and even giving the outside world the impression that I am pretending to be ill. This is another level of indescribable and huge harm to me.

As a person who has lived with mental illness for a long time, what I need is continuous and professional medical assistance, not more misunderstandings, speculations and prejudices about the disease.

I accept the media’s reasonable supervision of judicial cases and public figures, and I also understand that the media has the freedom to report and comment.

However, being a public figure does not mean that objective facts can be distorted; mental illness should not be lightly described as a reason to avoid responsibility just because it is invisible.

I have completely saved the relevant call records, medical certificates on the day, and court receipt information; the above medical-related information has also been officially submitted to the court.

I hereby request the media that have published the above-mentioned inaccurate information to correct the erroneous content, add subsequent facts, and correct misleading titles and text based on complete facts.

By making this statement, I am not asking for anyone’s sympathy, nor am I asking the media to stop criticizing me.

I only ask for one most basic thing:

Reports can be criticized, but the facts must be correct; diseases can be reported, but they should not be stigmatized.