Actor Kiki Darling leaves Ah Boys To Firefighters after past sexual assault conviction surfaces online

The production team said it was unaware of Kiki Darling's previous conviction and that his scenes will be removed following his resignation from the upcoming film.

Director Jack Neo (centre) with the initially announced main cast of Ah Boys to Firefighters, including Kiki Darling (right). (Photo: Instagram/@jackneock)

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Local content creator Kiki Darling has resigned from his role in director Jack Neo's upcoming film Ah Boys To Firefighters after his past sexual assault conviction resurfaced online.

Kiki, whose real name is Hari Kishen Balakrishnan, had been cast as one of the film's four new leading men.

His past conviction came to public attention after a video by content creator S Subhraaj went viral online, identifying Hari as the man previously convicted of sexually assaulting a male friend who was drunk and almost unconscious.

In 2021, CNA reported that Hari , who was then 20, pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual assault by penetration and making an obscene film, while another charge of molestation was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that Hari sexually assaulted his 23-year-old male friend, who was almost unconscious after drinking. Hari also recorded seven video clips of the sexual acts involving the victim, which were later deleted but recovered by police during forensic investigations. Hari was arrested the day after the offence and sentenced to at least six months' reformative training, a rehabilitation programme for those below the age of 21 who commit relatively serious crimes.

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In a statement to CNA Lifestyle, a representative of the Ah Boys To Firefighters production team from J Team Productions said that the team was "very surprised to hear about" the past conviction.

"None of the production crew was aware of his previous conviction, as none of the cast members had declared that they had any prior convictions," the representative said.

Following discussions with the production team, Hari decided to resign from his role.

"Kiki also understands that if we were to continue with him, given that he is one of the main characters, there are potential reputational risks in us casting him," the representative said.

"It’s very unfortunate that this happened in the middle of the production. We had communicated with all parties and had sought their understanding."

Scenes Hari had already filmed will be removed from the movie. The production team is now looking for another actor to take over his role and plans to carry out reshoots and the necessary editing.

"It should not have much impact on the theatrical release plans," the representative added.

The full cast of Ah Boys to Firefighters, with director Jack Neo, announced on Aug 31. (Photo: J Team Productions)

Hari was one of four new leading men unveiled for Ah Boys To Firefighters on Aug 31, following an open casting call in June that attracted more than 1,000 hopefuls.

He was set to play Ramesh Menon, one of four national servicemen posted to the same fire station. The other three new leads are Luqmaan Hakiim, Raynold Tan and Chai Chang Yong.

They join returning cast members from the Ah Boys To Men franchise, including Noah Yap, Tosh Zhang and Maxi Lim.

In response to the backlash over Hari's casting, the production representative said: "The entire production team, especially the casting department, will be more stringent when conducting auditions for future movie projects, and we will remind the cast of the consequences of their declarations."

Ah Boys To Firefighters is currently in production and is slated for release during Chinese New Year in 2027.

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制作团队表示，他们并不知道基基·达林之前的犯罪记录，在他辞去即将上映的电影的拍摄工作后，他的戏份将被删除。

导演梁智强（中）与《新兵正传》最初公布的主要演员阵容合影，其中包括Kiki Darling（右）。（图片来源：Instagram/@jackneock）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

本地内容创作者 Kiki Darling 因其过去的性侵犯定罪记录在网上被重新曝光，已辞去在导演梁智强即将上映的电影《新兵正传》中的角色。

Kiki，真名是 Hari Kishen Balakrishnan，被选为该片四位新男主角之一。

内容创作者 S Subhraaj 的一段视频在网上疯传后，哈里过去的犯罪记录引起了公众的关注。该视频指出，哈里就是之前因性侵一名醉酒且几乎失去意识的男性朋友而被定罪的男子。

2021 年，中央社报道称，当时 20 岁的哈里承认犯有一项性侵罪和一项制作淫秽影片罪，而另一项猥亵罪则在量刑时予以考虑。

法庭获悉，哈里性侵了他23岁的男性朋友，当时该男子饮酒后几乎失去意识。哈里还录制了七段与受害者发生性行为的视频，这些视频后来被删除，但在法医调查中被警方恢复。哈里在案发次日被捕，并被判处至少六个月的改造训练，这是一项针对21岁以下犯下较严重罪行者的康复计划。

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来自 J Team Productions 的《新兵正传》制作团队的代表在向 CNA Lifestyle 发表的声明中表示，该团队对过去的定罪“感到非常惊讶”。

“制作团队中没有人知道他之前的犯罪记录，因为所有演员都没有申报过自己有犯罪记录，”该代表说。

与制作团队商议后，哈里决定辞去他的角色。

“琪琪也明白，如果我们继续让他出演，考虑到他是主要角色之一，那么我们启用他可能会带来声誉风险，”这位代表说。

“非常遗憾的是，这件事发生在制作过程中。我们已经与各方沟通，并寻求了他们的理解。”

哈里已拍摄的戏份将从电影中删除。制作团队目前正在寻找另一位演员来接替他的角色，并计划进行补拍和必要的剪辑。

“这应该不会对院线发行计划造成太大影响，”该代表补充道。

由梁智强执导的《新兵正传》完整演员阵容于8月31日公布。（图片：J Team Productions）

哈里是8月31日《新兵正传》公布的四位新晋男主角之一，此前该剧在6月份进行了公开选角，吸引了超过1000名应征者。

他原定饰演拉梅什·梅农，他是被派往同一消防站的四名国民服役人员之一。其他三位新主演分别是卢克曼·哈基姆、雷诺德·谭和柴昌勇。

他们将与《新兵正传》系列电影的回归演员阵容一起出演，其中包括叶诺亚、张俊杰和林麦西。

针对哈里出演该角色引发的强烈反对，制作方代表表示：“整个制作团队，特别是选角部门，在未来的电影项目试镜时会更加严格，我们会提醒演员们他们言论的后果。”

《新兵正传》目前正在制作中，预计将于 2027 年中国新年期间上映。

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