Michael Porter Jr. Explains Viral Taiwan Photo and Transgender Model Speculation

Michael Porter Jr. has addressed the viral Taiwan photo that fueled online speculation about his encounter with a transgender influencer, saying he did not know her gender history when they met.

Michael Porter Jr. opened up about the long-running story during a new episode of his Curious Mike podcast with Jason Lee. The Brooklyn Nets forward said he met the woman while he was in Taiwan for appearances after she contacted him on Instagram, and that the two relied largely on Google Translate because they did not speak the same language.

According to Porter, they spent roughly an hour together before someone photographed them. He said the image later resurfaced online and caught him off guard when friends began sending him posts claiming the woman was transgender.

“I’ve never acknowledged this,” Porter said during the conversation, as reported by Complex. He added that he still does not know for certain whether the woman he met was transgender because their interaction never reached a point where they discussed her personal history.

Reports that circulated in 2025 identified the woman as Taiwanese model and influencer Xiao A La, who has publicly discussed undergoing gender-affirming surgery. Porter’s trip to Taiwan took place in 2023, but the player had not publicly confirmed his role in the viral encounter until this podcast discussion.

The conversation with Lee then expanded beyond the photo into a broader discussion about disclosure before romantic or sexual intimacy. Porter argued that transgender people should disclose their gender history before an encounter becomes intimate, while Lee agreed that informed consent matters and also stressed that transgender women can face safety risks when having those conversations.

Porter ultimately separated that broader debate from his reaction to the viral photo itself. He said he was surprised by the attention surrounding the encounter but is not concerned about the online speculation, telling Lee that although friends questioned him after the story spread, his position remained, “I still don’t care.”

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