Chinese film star Zhang Ziyi is suing Hong Kong’s largest circulation daily, Apple Daily, for an article published at the end of last month in which it asserts that the star sold her “services” to senior Chinese officials. In its May 29th edition the Apple Daily claimed that Zhang Ziyi was a prostitute and provided sexual favors in exchange for money to Bo Xilai, a former high Chinese official disgraced this spring, as well as his partner Ming Xu.

The article further stated that the actress (she appeared in 2005’s “Memoirs of a Geisha”) accumulated a fortune of 700 million yuan ($ 113 million) in ten years.

In her complaint filed Monday in the High Court of Hong Kong, the heroine of “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” argues that the article published by the tabloid is “highly defamatory” and “erroneous.”

It was further stated in the brief that, “the complainant has been subjected to condemnation and the ridicule of the public. Her public image has been damaged seriously.”

The Chinese film star is asking for financial compensation for an undisclosed amount.

Apple Daily, whose bread and butter is the kind of salacious rumor-mongering it is being sued about today nevertheless spares no criticism of the Chinese Communist authorities. The newspaper removed the Zhang Ziyi article from its website.

In other news, the Chinese star was approached to take the male lead of the historical drama and fantasy The Great Wall, as was revealed in Deadline. an epic which frame 15th-century medieval China (to be produced by Warner Brothers). Henry Cavill (No Way) and Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) will play the male leads, as British soldiers who discover a secret about the monument. Filming is expected to begin next fall, Ed Zwick (Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai) was attached to direct.

Should actors go after every rumor-friendly tabloid with lawsuits? What do you think? Add a comment below.