'Actor Lee Yi-kyung has recently been embroiled in a personal life exposure scandal that has put the broadcasting industry where he appears on edge. For the time being, he is scheduled to appear without edits.
On the 21st, multiple broadcasting officials told OSEN, "We are currently monitoring the situation without setting a separate response," and "We are carefully confirming the official position of the performer."
The controversy began on the 20th when exposure posts about Lee Yi-kyung's personal life spread mainly on SNS and online communities. A netizen who claimed to be German posted mobile chat screenshots on a Naver blog and X (formerly Twitter), saying they were messages exchanged with Lee Yi-kyung.
In the post, the author claimed that sexual remarks and mentions of sexual assault occurred during conversations with Lee Yi-kyung, and said they gathered the conversation as evidence and decided to expose it because they were frightened.
Lee Yi-kyung's agency Sangyoung ENT immediately rebutted the claims. In an official statement that evening, the agency said, "The content that has been posted and distributed online recently is false information and malicious rumors, and we are preparing legal action accordingly." It added, "Given the seriousness of the matter, we will assess direct and indirect damages caused by the spread of false information and take all measures, and indiscriminate posting and distribution will also be subject to legal action."
The agency also said, "This is not the first time," and claimed, "The author previously tried to extort money with similar content and, at that time, admitted the falsehood and sent an apology email directly." However, the situation reignited after the individual recently posted the same exposure again.
The original Naver blog post where the first exposure was posted has been deleted. But the author continues the exposure by releasing a video. The released video is said to contain records of messages sent to Lee Yi-kyung's SNS. The author denied, "I never demanded money from the agency," and raised questions about the process of the post being deleted.
Meanwhile, Lee Yi-kyung is currently appearing in several variety shows and works, including MBC's Hangout With Yoo, tvN film Handsome Guys, ENA·SBS Plus I'm SOLO and Jjigigo Bokkeun Yeohaeng, and E Channel's Brave Detectives 4. Recently, news that he would join KBS 2TV's The Return of SUPERMAN was also reported, signaling active activities, but the controversy has put all programs on alert. However, broadcasting officials said, "Unless the performer's response changes, there will be no changes within the programs."
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]