Actor Lee Yi-kyung has been swept up in an unprecedented personal life exposé scandal, and the programs in which he appears have all sounded the alarm.
On the 21st, multiple broadcasting officials told OSEN regarding the controversy over Lee Yi-kyung's personal life revelations, "We have not decided on any separate response yet and are watching the situation," they said in unison.
The controversy began on the 20th, when posts exposing Lee Yi-kyung's personal life spread mainly on social media and online communities. A netizen claiming to be a German woman shared mobile chat screenshots, saying the messages were exchanges with Lee Yi-kyung, beginning on the Korean portal site Naver blog and extending to X (formerly Twitter).
The writer claimed that during conversations with Lee Yi-kyung they discussed sexual topics and even that there were mentions of sexual assault. Because of this they said they became frightened and collected the subsequent conversations as evidence to expose Lee Yi-kyung's true nature.
But Lee Yi-kyung's side denied the related allegations. His agency, Sangyoung ENT, said that evening, "We are preparing legal action regarding the damage caused by the spread of false information and malicious rumors related to the matters recently posted and distributed mainly on online communities and social media."
In particular, the agency emphasized ongoing monitoring, saying, "Depending on the seriousness of this matter, we will calculate the scale of direct and indirect damages caused by the spread of false information and take all measures. The drafting of posts related to the same matter as well as indiscriminate posting and distribution are also subject to legal action, so please be careful to prevent unnecessary damage from occurring."
Moreover, Lee Yi-kyung's side said the writer's threats were not a first and claimed that several months ago a similar post was sent to the agency demanding money, causing a threat. The writer acknowledged the false information and even sent a direct apology email, but the same content was posted online again. The original Naver blog post has even been deleted. The credibility of the exposé was greatly damaged, and it seemed the incident would be wrapped up as a misunderstanding.
But the writer continued the exposé. This time a video appeared. They released a video that seemed to record the messages sent to Lee Yi-kyung's social media, attempting to add credibility to the content. The writer also continued to question why posts kept being deleted and denied ever demanding money from the agency.
Currently Lee Yi-kyung is appearing on MBC's '놀면 뭐하니?', tvN's '핸썸가이즈', ENA and SBS Plus's '나는 솔로(SOLO)' and '지지고 볶는 여행', and E Channel's '용감한 형사들4', among others. In addition, he recently joined KBS 2TV's 'The Return of Superman,' bringing him to appear on multiple variety shows. All broadcasters are on edge over Lee Yi-kyung's personal life controversy.
But officials from each program told OSEN, "As of the 21st we are relying on and waiting for the agency's initial official position," "There are no separate response plans," and "Unless the actor's side changes its response, there is unlikely to be any program response or change." Sangyoung ENT has not issued a separate position regarding additional revelations beyond its initial official stance.
[photo] OSEN DB. source: SNS.
[OSEN]