The action star and his daughter have a strained relationship. He rarely speaks of her. On her end, she does not see him as her parent and keeps her distance — both emotionally and publicly. Jackie Chan’s youngest child, Etta Ng, was born from his relationship with actress Elaine Ng. After coming out as gay, Etta ended up in a difficult situation.
The couple received overwhelming support online, something Etta hadn’t expected. She shared how deeply moved she was by the encouragement, especially in contrast to the criticism from media outlets in Hong Kong. Etta expressed a desire to use her experience to uplift others who feel unseen.
But behind the affection and public support, their private reality was far more difficult. In April 2018, then-18-year-old Etta and her partner, posted a brief video online, revealing they had been left without shelter in New York and were forced to sleep under a bridge.
“We’ve been homeless for a month due to homophobic parents. We pretty much slept under a bridge, and other things,” Ng shared. The couple, who later married in November 2018 and whose nuptials made international headlines, said they had turned to police, hospitals, food banks, and LGBTQ community shelters for help but were turned away. “All of them just don’t give a [expletive],” Ng added.
Meanwhile, Autumn noted, “We will have to be split up if we go to any kind of government facility.” Feeling desperate, Ng stated, “We don’t know what to do at this point. We just want to let people know what’s going on because at this point it seems ridiculous that no one can help. I don’t understand.”
In response to the growing attention, Etta’s mother decided to speak out. In an interview, Elaine dismissed her daughter’s claims and emphasized the importance of taking responsibility. “I feel that if they have no money, they should go find work,” she stated.
According to her, filming a video to announce their financial troubles and reveal Etta’s father was unnecessary. She believes people across the world work hard and do not depend on another person’s fame for support.
While Elaine was vocal about the situation, Jackie remained silent. Despite earning $49 million in 2017 and starring in films that have grossed more than $2.6 billion, he has not addressed his daughter publicly.
In 2023, he returned to the screen in “Ride On,” starring alongside Liu Haocun, who portrayed his daughter in the film. A fan shared a touching moment from the movie on X, posting a clip of the two watching old scenes from Jackie’s earlier films writing, “Jackie Chan and his daughter crying while watching some of his old movie scenes is the most wholesome thing you’ll watch today.”
The video quickly sparked backlash. One user wrote, “why is no one pointing out that this isn’t his daughter and he is a terrible father [sic]” Another questioned, “didn’t [sic] he disown his daughter since she was a lesbian?” A third added, “[…] The fact that he’s estranged from his real-life daughter for being lesbian is certainly something, huh. This isn’t wholesome at all.”
