Summary Of NOC Co-Founder Sylvia Chan’s 2-Hour Interview With Xiaxue
More information in an ongoing saga between the co-founders of Night Owl Cinematics (NOC), Ryan Tan and Sylvia Chan, was revealed in an interview with Xiaxue on her YouTube channel.
The mammoth interview, lasting 1 hour and 47 minutes, contains many details, such as the apparent legal dispute between Sylvia and Ryan, clarifications on Ryan’s status as NOC director, and the alleged sex trade in return for company favour.
We’ve summarised the key things Sylvia had addressed in the video below.
Alleged lawsuit between Sylvia & Ryan
Sylvia claims that no lawsuits have taken place.
However, there’s been ongoing dispute regarding matters that the 2 co-founders couldn’t agree on, involving lawyers on both sides.
Central to this dispute is that Reno King, which started as a series on NOC’s YouTube channel, is its own registered company.
According to Sylvia, Ryan allegedly registered the company behind her back as its own entity in April.
However, she argues that Reno King, like other NOC series, should be incorporated under the NOC umbrella as he’s allegedly using company assets for the series.
She also felt that there was no trust between them as business partners.
The matter has escalated to lawyers’ letters as she accused him of breaching fiduciary duties as a company director.
She said, “This whole fight with me started because Ryan wants an exit from NOC. He wants me to buy him out at a high price that will not let my company be able to run,” noting that the amount is in the “millions”.
“That’s our argument and why we have lawyers going back and forth. There are things he wants, e.g. Reno King.”
The drama with the leaked screenshots began amid this argument.
Ryan is still NOC director
Sylvia also addressed the matter of Ryan’s role in the company.
Although Ryan claimed that he has stepped down as NOC director and isn’t involved in day-to-day duties since May, Sylvia said that he’s still the sole director.
Ryan confirmed as much on Saturday (23 Oct) in his apology.
NOC’s Ryan Apologises For Leaked Texts About Talents & Admits Shame In Making Them
However, Sylvia said that on 11 Oct, Ryan had emailed NOC’s secretary to backdate his resignation to 8 May.
Ryan has also allegedly gotten a Reno King office, which is separate from NOC.
Sylvia levelled the accusation that Ryan wanted to backdate the resignation so there would be no breach of fiduciary duties, as the acts involving Reno King could be considered as such.
Claims of a smear campaign
During the interview with Xiaxue, Sylvia addressed the suspects behind the @sgcickenrice account. She also mentioned again the possibility of there being a coordinated attempt to bring her down.
Although she said, “Until now, I don’t know”, she claimed that “a few names come up over and over again” and that she is privy to the group chats where the screenshots emerged.
She asked herself, “what have I done?” regarding the accusations, and claims that after thinking logically, she can only come to one conclusion, that somebody has something to gain from the situation.
Then she asked, “Why does this person want to completely destroy me?” and thought it was “coincidental” that the leaks emerged while Ryan and Sylvia were engaged in their dispute.
She names at least 4 people she suspects are involved in the leaks, including:
- Michelle
- Grace
- Nicole
- Edmond
Sylvia thinks a “smear campaign” may affect company
Sylvia also suspects that Ryan has something to gain from the ongoing campaign.
She said, “Let’s say NOC is worth $10. Ryan has 49%, so I must pay him $4.90 to buy him out. So if NOC is in deep shit, our stock values go down to $5. Now our shares are worth half the money.”
Sylvia claims that if the “smear campaign” ruins her reputation, everyone in the company will want her to step down as the CEO.
Then, Ryan will be able to buy her out at half the price, using the justification that she isn’t worthy of leading anymore. As the next most deserving person is him, he “would kick this unworthy person out”, referring to herself.
Sylvia revealed that within the first week of the allegations erupting, NOC lost $250,000 worth of deals.
“If you care for the people, you would know the company has lost this amount of money. We have 40+ people. Where do I get money to fund their salaries in the middle of the situation now?”
Sylvia’s role as a mental health ambassador
A question many had amid the saga was Sylvia’s role as a mental health advocate and how the events paint her as a hypocrite amid her alleged behaviour at the workplace.
Sylvia answered that she’s an advocate not because she’s the best at it but because she wants to learn to be better.
“Doesn’t mean I’m perfect, so I advocate”, she said, noting that the logical conclusion of that argument critics put up means “unless I’m perfect then I can’t advocate for things, then I guess I’m not fit to advocate for anything.”
Tardiness accusations
Sylvia was also accused of being harsh to employees regarding punctuality. Yet, she did not show up on time to appointments herself.
Sylvia admitted to Xiaxue that it was a “clear case of me unable to (be punctual)” at the start of her career but learned that it negatively affects people.
Since then, Sylvia said that she’s tried to be better and that she’s not late nowadays.
Sylvia’s brother working at NOC
OG fans of NOC will know that Sylvia’s brother Sikeen has been a consistent presence in videos, performing various roles as a talent over the years.
However, an allegation is that Sylvia has been paying him a monthly salary of $3,000-$4,500 under NOC since Apr 2021 so that he can get Singapore PR status.
This is even though, according to leaked screenshots, he has not performed work for the company for “very long”.
But Sylvia said Sikeen “has always worked in NOC” since day 1 as a talent and has also worn other hats like producer and props manager.
Sylvia also claimed that he’s still doing NOC work, addressing the “phantom worker” accusation.
Due to Ryan’s apparent dislike of Sikeen, Sylvia had asked him to work in the other office.
“I don’t think it’s wrong for me to say that ‘you come here and work, stay away from the other people’,” she said.
Sylvia maintained that the accounting is done right because “he’s actually working, so why are we not paying him” and asked Xiaxue if it was wrong that she pays Sikeen a salary now.
However, the nature of his current roles within the company as of 2021 remains unclear.
Sex barter trade accusation
Another shocking revelation from the blog was the case where Sylvia allegedly struck a deal with the boss of a logistics company to offer a talent for sex in exchange for goods delivery of chillis.
Sylvia insisted to Xiaxue that “there was no barter and there was no trade”, asking the accusers “what is the trade”.
She also claimed that she’s never asked any logistics company to send anything for her.
As for the incident, Sylvia said that it was a matter of “(introducing) girlfriends to rich guys” because the logistics company boss had invited her to a party at a richer male friend’s house.
Sylvia decided to invite her friends to come along, and she claimed she didn’t know what happened there — she only knew that Talent A told her “the night was fun”.
She also claimed not to know who she apparently slept with.
Sylvia also clarified that the chilli venture she set up didn’t happen in the end—which happens, she said, and there’s no bad feeling between her and Edmond, the person she was talking to regarding the business.
Addresses own condition
Sylvia’s own mental health has been a subject of discussion as well during the drama, due to fears that she may do something drastic like taking her own life.
Xiaxue asked if anyone is giving her support at this time.
She addressed this, saying, “I’m in a special place that not many have gone to. People you trust betray you… these people are people I worked my life for. They have their careers because they were part of this company. What did I work so hard for?”
She felt that friends who sought help from her and asked her for favours were merely hiding behind her to stab her.
“Xiaxue, I don’t know how you deal with it, but this is so hard,” she said.
Sylvia addressed the feeling she gets when she sees a new accusation from someone, saying, “You really feel your whole body turns numb… when you see it’s (a new name). What have I done to her?”
But she decided she’d use this as a “spring clean” so she’d walk out with people who really love her.
Thirsty Sisters content taken down
During the saga, the Thirsty Sisters podcast channel with Sylvia and Nina saw its content taken down.
The Thirsty Sisters YouTube Videos & Instagram Disappear Amid Allegations Against NOC’s Sylvia
Sylvia revealed that Nina has been “getting a lot of sh*t” from family for sticking by her, as she is Ryan’s cousin.
She noted that Nina has broken down many times, and because of the hate that Thirsty Sisters was getting on the content due to the allegations, the producer decided to take down the content as seeing the hate “broke (his) heart”.
Alleged sex video
Rumours of a sex video of Sylvia being leaked on social media emerged.
However, Sylvia put the rumours to rest, saying that she watched it on repeat 10 times, asking, “Is this even me?” due to the apparent resemblance.
In the end, she asked her close friends, and they confirmed it wasn’t her due to a discrepancy in chest size.
On speaking up now
As it turns out, after days of keeping silent apart from the apology on her Instagram page, one event seemingly forced Sylvia’s hand.
It was Channel 8.
Sylvia revealed that her mum, who lives in a village, saw the saga reported on Channel 8, and it has badly affected her.
So, she decided to do the interview as, at this point,
Everything is out anyway, it’s more cathartic, and if today is the last day of my career and I’m out… at least I’m given the chance to say something.
Raises more questions than answers
Sylvia revealed many, many details throughout the Xiaxue interview, even looking visibly emotional at times.
It’s good that Sylvia’s side of the story is being heard.
However, many questions remain unanswered. Although Sylvia noted that she’s made several police reports and is working with the authorities over the allegations, the public is still none the wiser about many workplace-related allegations.
While the public thirst for information is understandable, the main issue remains accountability, especially for employees dealing with the saga on top of other pandemic-related issues.
We hope that NOC will come out stronger than before when the saga is over.
Also read:
NOC’s Sylvia Says Playing ‘Bad Cop’ Made Her An Angry Person She Feels Ashamed Of
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Featured image adapted from Xiaxue on YouTube.
