It seems like a third party is getting tangled in the ongoing saga between veteran actresses Hong Huifang and Pan Lingling.

Julie Tan, a 26-year-old Mediacorp actress, is allegedly involved with Hong's 18-year-old son, Calvert Tay:

This has resulted in Tan being the subject of Pan's supposed indiscretion.

Willing to make public apology

However, according to Shin Min Daily News (SMDN), Pan had contacted Tan's mother Doris Tan on the morning of July 24.

She did so to apologise for her hurtful words towards the latter's daughter.

Pan is also allegedly willing to make a public apology on the newspapers, in hopes that the Tan family would not take legal action.

Discussing Hong's family affairs at lunch

Pan's words were allegedly uttered at a group lunch in end-June, which Hong also attended.

The former had reportedly aired her views about the relationship between Hong's son and Tan.

Pan also apparently suggested that Tay go for a sexually-transmitted disease (STD) inoculation jab, and subsequently mentioned Tan's previous relationships, which included a Caucasian man.

Pan was allegedly afraid that the Caucasian man might have passed on a disease to Tan.

More details were revealed in Hong's WhatsApp rant, which SMDN managed to get a copy of.

However, the newspaper deemed the contents too improper to print.

Tan: Hong was just protecting me

In an interview with SMDN on July 23, Tan said that Pan's words amounted to bullying and severely damaged her reputation.

In response to online chatter that Hong is making a mountain out of a molehill, Tan revealed the following to SMDN:

"I only found out about this yesterday. Sister Huifang ("sister" here is a sign of respect by acknowledging someone as an elder) did not tell me anything because she wanted to protect me.

Many people don't understand, they think that Sister Huifang is a bully, but the reality is, she is was standing up for me.

[...]

This is a very serious matter, and my parents were very upset after seeing the news reports and the message (presumably the one sent by Pan).

I feel like I must speak up for her and myself, and put an end to this bullying!"

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Pan's husband: It's just a misunderstanding

According to Pan's husband Huang Shinan, Pan wished to de-escalate the situation with her apology.

However, he believes that one should still weed out the person causing such chaos.

He said:

"When someone is hellbent on hurting you, there's nothing you can do. We're here today because of a misunderstanding. I told [Pan] that if you're in the wrong, you must apologise; if you're not wrong, you should also apologise to prevent further escalation and maintain the peace."

He added that they are good friends with Tan's parents:

"We just love Julie. When she entered the industry, we took care of her. Her parents are very good to us as well."

You can catch up on the saga here:

Top image from Julie Tan and Pan Lingling's Instagram