Singer Lee Mujin apologized to NMIXX's Gyujin. It was an apology made eight months after the boycott that began with reports that singer Xiumin's appearance on Music Bank fell through.
In March, Hundred said that as Xiumin was preparing to release his first solo album in two years and six months, KBS had unofficially conveyed that it would be impossible for Xiumin to appear simultaneously on programs where SM Entertainment singers appear, such as Music Bank.
Hundred said, "We think this is a public broadcaster blocking meetings between artists and fans through broadcasts not because of music or any other reason but because of conflicts of interest with a specific agency," and added, "We will continuously strive to ensure fairness regarding KBS, which made it difficult for Xiumin and other artists to appear on Music Bank, and we will do our best to prevent many artists from suffering due to such unfair practices in the future." KBS disputed Hundred's claims, saying, "That is not true," but Hundred boycotted the scheduled recordings of Limousine Service and Ask Us Anything Fortune Teller featuring its artists Lee Mujin and broadcaster Lee Sugeun.
Han Kyung-chun, head of KBS's entertainment center, said, "I did Music Bank for a long time too, and casting and lineup are 99% the producers' responsibility. Ultimately it is a communication issue between producers and agencies," and explained, "We conveyed this position through a meeting with senior officials as recently as last week." He said the claim that there had been no contact for two weeks was "not true."
Due to the standoff between the agency and the broadcaster, agency artist Lee Mujin boycotted the program bearing his name, and as a result NMIXX's Gyujin, who was scheduled to appear, had no choice but to sing and leave alone. Because Limousine Service is a program where people sing and talk and the duets between Lee Mujin and his guests were much loved, the unprecedented "MC boycott" created a situation in which the guest sang alone and left.
Seven months later, Lee Mujin met NMIXX's Gyujin again. NMIXX's appearance on Limousine Service was arranged as they released a new album, and as the conflict between Hundred and KBS eased, Lee Mujin resumed hosting Limousine Service.
Lee Mujin apologized, "I can't let this go without addressing it. I'm sorry. I should kneel, but my father taught me strongly how to live as a man, so I cannot kneel. It was in the past, but just because it was in the past doesn't mean it disappears, so I wanted to tell viewers that I was extremely sorry then." Lee Mujin added, "We had prepared a duet song that I was eagerly waiting for Gyujin to come for, but we couldn't perform it then," and Gyujin said, "So I'm very happy to be able to sing the duet again today."
In the solemn atmosphere, Lee Mujin apologized, "Thank you so much for saying that. I hope you can resolve everything that couldn't be done then, and once again I'm sorry."
Maybe because of that lingering apology, Limousine Service's NMIXX episode was uploaded in two parts. The runtimes were about 30 minutes and about 40 minutes, suggesting that more care was taken compared with other artists.
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