A popular gym-goer in Ho Chi Minh City made an apology on Monday in the wake of a backlash from the celeb and online communities over his offensive words for late comedian Chi Tai.

The man in question is Duy Nguyen, a 35-year-old man known by many people in Vietnam’s gym-goer community.

When the funeral of Chi Tai, a famed comedian in Vietnam and Vietnamese communities overseas who had died from a stroke in Ho Chi Minh City last week, was taking place on Saturday, Duy ran a live-stream on Facebook, in which he spoke ill of the deceased celebrity and his wife, who is living in the United States.

Duy’s live-stream, which went viral on the Internet shortly afterward, provoked fury widely among Chi Tai’s fans and colleagues, and became the talk of the town on the weekend.

He uploaded a video on his 206,000-subscriber YouTube channel on Sunday, saying that he failed to control his words during Saturday’s live-stream.

A group of Chi Tai’s colleagues came to his gym in Binh Tri Dong Ward, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City to address the controversy on Monday morning.

The celebs’ visit captured the attention of a quite large number of curious onlookers, causing traffic congestion through the area.

Police officers were dispatched to the venue to control the crowd.

According to actor Quach Ngoc Tuyen, one of the visitors to Duy’s gym, the celebs and Duy talked in a peaceful manner to settle the issue.

“After this incident, I hope he will change his way of speaking to everyone and take a video of apologizing to Chi Tai, Mrs. Be Heo [singer Phuong Loan – Chi Tai’s wife] with his most sincere words,” said actress Cat Phuong, who led the visit. 

“From now on, do not offend anyone even if it is a child," Phuong advised Duy.

At the end of the visit, the group of celebs gave Duy two textbooks of ethics and civics as a gift.

Following the discussion, Duy uploaded a short video on his YouTube channel the same day, in which the bodybuilder, with crossed arms, apologized to Chi Tai, his wife, relatives, friends, and fans.

“In a previous live-stream video, I made a false statement about Mrs. Be Heo and inappropriate comments about Mr. Chi Tai’s funeral,” said Duy. 

“I would like to admit my wrongdoing and once again I would like to express my sincere apologies to Mrs. Be Heo, the spirit of Mr. Chi Tai, the artists, brothers and sisters, and fans of Mr. Chi Tai at home and abroad. I’m sincerely sorry.”

Chi Tai, born in 1958, was a famous Vietnamese musician, comedian, and actor.

He first rose to prominence in the Vietnamese community in the United States in the 1980s as the lead guitarist of popular band Chi Tai Brothers.

He and famous Vietnamese artist Hoai Linh made a strikingly popular pair of comedians, widely known as Hoai Linh – Chi Tai, since 1997.

Following his return to Vietnam, Chi Tai was active in several art fields, including comedy, cinema, theater, and TV shows and dramas.

Chi Tai's passing was mourned by many Vietnamese people at home and overseas.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!