Jackie Chan is known and loved by every adult and child around the world. However, there is one child who does not share this love—his own. His grown-up daughter out of wedlock, Etta Ng, stands in line for free food as he sets out to leave his million-dollar fortune to his wife.

In his book, “Never Grow Up,” acclaimed actor Jackie Chan detailed his turbulent love life. The Hong Kong-born movie star married his one and only wife, former Taiwanese actress Joan Lin in 1982.

The couple welcomed their only child together, a son named Jaycee Chan, on December 3, 1982. The same year he wed and had a son, news broke that he had had an affair.

It turned out Chan had been cheating on his spouse with former beauty queen Elaine Ng. Consequently, their relationship produced a love child, as Elaine later welcomed a daughter on November 19, 1999, and named her Etta Ng.

Chan revealed in his autobiography that news of his infidelity caused havoc as he had to figure out how he would tell his wife. He wrote:

“When the news broke about an affair I’d had that resulted in a love child, the media frenzy was like a bomb going off. I wanted to phone Joan but didn’t know what to say. I wouldn’t be able to explain this. It wasn’t a mistake I could fix by saying, ‘I’m sorry.’”

The Hollywood star acknowledged that he had jeopardized his marriage, and by the look of things, he and Lin were heading for divorce. However, her reaction to the news was not what he expected.

Chan called Lin, who at the time was at a remote location. Calm as she was, he asked her if she had seen the newspapers. She told him there was no need for an explanation and extended her support:

“I don’t want you to hurt her, and I don’t want her to hurt us. If you need me or our son to show up and stand by your side, we’ll do that. I know you must be feeling awful now. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. You go deal with this.”

That candid conversation left Chan in tears, forcing him to look in the mirror for self-introspection. He referred to himself as a “real bastard” and expressed regret for shutting his wife out when she had been honest with him for years.

The filmmaker realized he had acted out of character and disappointed his spouse, and with that realization, he had to make things right. Days later, he called a family meeting, including Lin and their child Jaycee, where he apologized profusely for his “unforgivable mistake.”

In 1999, Chan addressed the scandal in a conference, where he revealed Lin had forgiven him and that his son understood. Moreover, he said if the child turned out to be his, he would take “responsibility.”

In another startling revelation, the martial artist confessed in a 2015 interview that he was forced to marry Lin after she fell pregnant with their son, adding it was never his intention to get married. He disclosed:

“It was an accident which conceived Jaycee. I had never thought of getting married, but I felt it was akin to being forced to get married.”

Chan also confessed to being a ladies’ man with “many girlfriends” at a young age before secretly tying the knot with Lin at a Los Angeles coffee shop. The pair have been married for 40 years now.

Regardless of their long-lasting union, the stuntman has been rumored to have been unfaithful to the award-winning star several times.

In addition to that, Jackie admitted that he had not been a good father to his kids. He shared his strong belief in physically disciplining children as they are naughty—as he did with his son when he was younger. The “The Karate Kid” star revealed he once threw his son on the couch and instantly felt terrible about it because he “scared him” and his mom.

Although he openly talked about Jaycee, Chan did not mention his estranged daughter in his book. At the time of the book release, Etta had just married her wife, Andi Autumn, a Canadian internet celebrity.

Though Chan did not talk about her, she, on the other hand, previously made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him because he was never present in her life.

After she tied the knot at age 19, Etta wrote on her Instagram account: “A home is the family that you can choose. Love is undoubtedly [sic] stronger than blood.”

Jackie’s Non-existent Relationship with Etta
Despite Etta being bold enough to follow her heart, she admitted that she and her then-girlfriend Autumn were struggling in Canada. The duo started dating in 2017, the same year she came out as a lesbian on social media. Etta and Autumn—who is 12 years her senior— made international headlines when they married in 2018.

Although she has a wealthy father, Etta claimed she and Autumn were homeless and had sought shelter under a bridge. In April 2018, the pair filmed a video and posted it on YouTube as a cry for help because they could barely make ends meet to survive.

Etta and Autumn revealed family and friends had disowned them because of homophobia. They refused to settle at a homeless shelter for fear of being separated.

In the video, Etta introduced her partner Autumn and herself as Chan’s child, sharing how long they had been without a home and where they had been staying:

“We’ve been homeless for a month due to homophobic parents. We’ve pretty much slept under a bridge and other things.”

The now 23-year-old added they had gone to other government departments to seek assistance but received none; hence, they recorded the video because it was their last resort. Etta even asked those who viewed the clip to share it to gain traction, hoping to get help.

Her mother eventually saw the video and condemned the couple for their act. Elaine, who previously bailed out the pair after they failed to pay the bill for their stay at a Mong Kok hotel, said:

“I feel that if they have no money, they should go find work. They shouldn’t film a clip telling others they are broke and who Etta’s father is. People all over the world work hard and don’t rely on someone else’s fame to get money.”

The mother and daughter have had a strained relationship over the years to the point that the actress once claimed Etta was not her daughter. She was upset by how she was living, which always led to her coming to her rescue.

In 2015, Elaine was arrested for child cruelty but was later released by police. Following that incident, Etta, who lived with her in an apartment in Happy Valley, dropped out of school to move to North Point with Autumn after coming out.

The winner of Miss Asia also touched on her daughter’s well-being, saying she suffers from “emotional” issues and that she had been seeing a medical professional before she left Hong Kong and had not gone to therapy ever since.

Elaine added that Autumn is a bad influence on her child as she is a woman in her thirties with teaching work experience. The concerned mom questioned how she could allow Etta to film a video when she was supposed to reprimand her. “It’s wrong,” she said.

The mother of one blasted the couple for blaming their parents for their choices while making an example of Hong Kong residents who work despite being fairly paid.

Etta and Autumn fled from Hong Kong, after which the former was reported missing by her mother. She was 18 then, had quit her job, and remained under the radar for months, leaving her mom to file a missing persons report.

During that period, CCTV footage showed Etta and Autumn in a convenience store telling the cashier she was looking for Chan. Per reports, the footage was filmed in Canada, but the encounter still needed to be confirmed where it occurred.

Etta spoke candidly about what she thought about her father for the first time when she was 15. She expressed no desire to forgive him for being absent throughout her life nor did she want money from him:

“He is not my dad. I have no feelings for him. He is my biological father, but he is not in my life.”

Etta was born after her parents had ended their affair, which started in 1998. Chan deems his relationship with Elaine “a fault.” In turn, their daughter does not consider him as her parent despite watching his movies growing up.

Etta said she would never refer to the “Rush Hour” star as her dad but only as an actor and she has no intentions of seeing him. She emphasized she did not harbor any bad feelings toward her father but, at the same time, cannot tell what kind of person he is because they do not know each other well enough.

Etta added she was in no position to judge him without knowing him and admitted that if she were younger, she would have probably tarnished his name, but because she is old enough, she chooses her words wisely.

Meanwhile, the “Who Am I” star avoids talking about her, once stating that some things are better left unsaid.

In addition to her non-existent relationship with her dad, Etta’s mom had a drinking problem while raising her, and they struggled to develop a mother-and-daughter relationship.

Etta has refused to mend her volatile relationship with her mom by opting not to reunite with her for Chinese New Year. In January 2023, Etta said she would rather be out on the streets than make things right with her:

“I’d rather be homeless and eat stale bread than reunite with my mother.”

Moreover, as a child, people followed her every move, thinking she was wealthy because of who her dad was, but evidently, that was never the case.

Jackie Cuts His Kids Out of His Will While Etta Queues for Free Food
In 2011, Chan revealed he would not leave his daughter or singer-son Jaycee with an inheritance once he dies. Instead, all his reported $350 million fortune would go to charity.

The “Drunken Master” star, who remains one of the highest-paid stars, believes his son should make his own living, and if he couldn’t, then he would only be misusing whatever inheritance he is set to receive.

However, he changed his tune in 2018. After deciding to leave all his money to charity, Chan revealed he changed his will and would be leaving all his assets to his wife, Lin.

While the actor opted to leave everything to his spouse, his daughter struggled to eat. In October 2022, a netizen spotted Etta queuing for free food provided to the needy in Toronto, Canada, where she currently lives. The unidentified individual photographed her, and the image was shared several times online.

The then-22-year-old was reportedly pictured standing in line among the elderly and middle-aged women while carrying a blue bag. According to the source, Etta was making ends meet by working at a restaurant in Chinatown.

People have shown empathy for Etta and have called for her father to take notice of her on social media, asking him to tend to her and show that he cares.

Meanwhile, it seems Etta’s relationship with Autumn has fizzled out – which was her mother’s worst fear, as she previously suspected she married her daughter because of ulterior motives.

Netizens revealed Etta deleted photos of her wife from her social media accounts. It turns out Autumn had also done the same thing, per reports.

Etta previously dismissed reports suggesting Autumn got involved with her because she assumed that she had money because of who her dad was.

In fact, in December 2018, she shared plans to make her own name by jump-starting her creative agency in Hong Kong alongside Autumn.

The Hong Kong native expressed her desire to step out of her estranged father’s shadow, revealing she never went by his last name.