As a martial artist, Jackie Chan is considered among the most respected and renowned worldwide.

Yet recently, the 71-year-old superstar was called out for being a bad boss by a member of his stunt team.

It all began when Hong Kong action star Mars, also known as Cheung Wing-fat, spoke out about experiencing unfair treatment while working in Jackie’s stunt team, according to Hong Kong media Blueberry Daily.

Mars, who is 71 like Jackie, has been in the martial arts industry for more than 60 years and is a 16-year member of Cheng Jia Ban, aka the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. 

The stuntman revealed that while filming 1993 Hong Kong action comedy film City Hunter, he was credited as the action director.

He thought that after the film wrapped, he would receive at least HK$150K to HK$200K (S$26K to S$35K) in director’s fees.

However, he ended up receiving only HK$100K (S$17.5K), equivalent to what an assistant action director would get.

When Mars, who was originally a member of Hung Ga Ban (Sammo Hung’s stunt team), confronted Jackie about it, the film legend merely replied that “there are no ranks in the Jackie Chan Stunt Team”.

That made Mars feel deeply unfairly treated and disheartened.

The following year, while filming Drunken Master II, Mars intended to leave the stunt team after they wrapped the movie. But he ended up serving as a stunt double again.

Unfortunately, while doing his stunts, the wire attached to his harness snapped, causing him to fall hard to the ground.

Mars, who was obviously injured, claimed that Jackie laughed at the time and said he looked like a turtle showing no reaction. The former said he found that experience very hurtful.

Because of that injury, Mars was also forced to rest for three years, during which he missed participating in several of Jackie’s films.

Consequently, Jackie allegedly changed Mars’ salary arrangement from a monthly salary to a per-project contract, which meant Mars could no longer receive his HK$10K (S$S$1.75K) monthly pay.

Mars also revealed that he had borrowed money from the company because he was unable to work for several months, only to informed later that he actually owed the company HK$90K (S$15.7K). 

This isn’t the first time Jackie’s getting berated for this issue. 

Previously, Sammo’s stunt team member Chung Fat similarly criticised Jackie for not treating his “brothers” well and even singled Mars out as the most miserable one who struggled the most.

Chung Fat said members of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team risked their lives performing for Jackie, yet were not properly cared for.

Jackie has yet to respond to Mars’ accusations. But his old pal, veteran Hong Kong host Natalis Chan, did have something to say.

Natalis previously co-founded Hong Kong multimedia company StarEast, with Jackie being one of the partners.

When asked if he thought Jackie was a good boss, Natalis said: “I worked with him as a partner. I think he’s very honest and a perfectly normal person.”

“I haven’t worked with him on films or collaborated on anything else, it just so happened that he was invited him to be a partner for StarEast,” he added.Â