Comedian Lee Gook-joo revealed that she was hurt by comments that demeaned her appearance.

On the 2nd, a video was released on Lee Gook-joo's personal YouTube channel showing her having a deep conversation with actor Ahn Jae-hyun and comedian Kwak Bum.

Lee Gook-joo said, "When I first entered the comedy world, the expressions of the older female seniors were not good. When I was a rookie, I heard 'Another bigger X has come in, you ruined my chances for food.'"

She continued, "Honestly, I did not grow up being mocked for my appearance as a child. I was very outgoing in my neighborhood, and thanks to that, there were no kids who bullied me. But after my debut, when I started receiving comments about my appearance, I thought, 'Oh, this is my character.' As a comedienne, I let it all go and when I worked on skits with Jung Ho-cheol and Shin Gyu-jin, I said, 'Do everything you want.' So, the kids did not reveal who wrote the skit. Because they were afraid I would get angry. When I wore a yellow dress, they would say I looked like a 'school bus.' If it's something not for broadcasting, then I dislike it, but aside from that, it was honestly fine when they made jokes about being 'fat.' I quickly learned and was relatively less hurt."

After going through 10 years of obscurity, Lee Gook-joo shared, "I debuted at 21 and was in obscurity for 10 years before finally finding success. I thought it was natural at that time, no matter who bullied me and called me 'fat.' Since it was my first experience in society, I just thought, 'I guess that’s how it is' and endured it." She noted, "But when I went home and thought about it, I found myself crying. I lived like a mad person for over 10 years. I had been running without a moment to take care of myself."

Lee Gook-joo stated, "Honestly, these days are really tough. The age of forty is significant, and I feel like it's a time when I need to make some decisions. If I'm going to get married, I should do it soon, and I'm confused about whether I can keep doing this work I want to do. I'm not even busier than during my prime." She mentioned that she traveled to Japan to sort her thoughts and take a break.

In response, Kwak Bum made a joke to lighten the heavy atmosphere, saying, "You haven't lost much weight considering you've been running for 10 years." Lee Gook-joo smiled and replied, "Don’t you think it’s okay to share sad stories? (laughs) Even painful pasts become funny episodes, so even when I have difficult thoughts, I think of you and it makes me laugh."

On this day, Ahn Jae-hyun also shared a story about a car accident he had in his 20s.

Ahn Jae-hyun recounted, "In the year I turned 20, I had a car accident. I was in the hospital for six months. I was sitting in a taxi's front passenger seat when it happened. I broke two ribs and when I opened my eyes, there was a tube in my throat. My lung collapsed, and I was lying there with an IV in. I thought, Wow, let me really be objective and think about what I'm going to do for a living. At that time, I felt inadequate visually for being an entertainer."

He mentioned that even after debuting as a model, he faced hardships, saying, "I don't know if it has changed now, but I thought being a model meant making a lot of money. After graduating from the academy, I shot my first magazine. The pay for each magazine was between 50,000 and 80,000 won. At that time, it was like a wish to be in a magazine. But one day, I got an ad. The main model was Lee Soo-hyuk, and it was displayed large on the Apgujeong Station billboard. So, I appeared this small next to him. They don’t give you much if your face doesn’t appear in the ad. I think it was around 800,000 won in my memory."

[Photo] 'Lee Gook-joo - Gook-joo's house' screen capture

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