Actor Lee Yi-kyung, who was embroiled in a personal life rumor, exposed a conflict with the production staff of Hangout With Yoo. In response, Hangout With Yoo issued an explanation and apology regarding the controversy.
On the 21st, Lee Yi-kyung stated his position on the recently surfaced personal life rumor through his social account. Earlier on social media, a person identifying herself as a German woman, A, appeared and exposed what appeared to be private, sexual conversations and photos exchanged with Lee Yi-kyung, causing a stir.
The agency called it "false information" and pursued legal action, and A changed her position, saying "the photos were made by AI." However, A continued to reverse her position afterwards, and the agency Sangyoung ENT said, "We are pursuing legal action against the author of the posts about actor Lee Yi-kyung on charges of intimidation and defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection," adding, "We quickly filed a complaint three days after becoming aware of the incident and completed the plaintiff's statement."
Meanwhile, Lee Yi-kyung stepped down from Hangout With Yoo amid the controversy and also did not participate in the KBS2 program The Return of SUPERMAN, which he was scheduled to join. After the controversy, Lee Yi-kyung posted directly for the first time to state his position. He said, "A few days ago I visited Gangnam Police Station in Seoul and gave a plaintiff's statement. I conveyed my position on the rumors and completed the complaint procedure for intimidation and defamation by dissemination of false information."
He continued, "I was furious every moment. Someone claiming to be a German whose identity and existence are unknown repeatedly appeared and disappeared as if they had sent a threatening e-mail to the agency months ago. The agency calmed me down again, saying there was no reason to have a truth dispute over the false information. Although it was said to be fabricated and disappeared within a day, I was asked to step down from the entertainment program, and we chose to voluntarily withdraw," revealing that his exit from Hangout With Yoo was not voluntary but prompted by the production team.
Lee Yi-kyung also said, "During the previous 'myeonchigi' controversy, I clearly said I didn't want to do it, but they asked, saying they had rented the noodle shop because of me, and my line, "It's for the show!" was edited out. After the controversy erupted, the production team only said the absurd thing that they were in a hurry, and the controversy was left for me alone to deal with, causing serious damage to my image." He added that he learned about being removed as an MC of The Return of SUPERMAN through articles, saying, "I was told I would only appear via VCR, but I found out through articles that I had been replaced."
In response to Lee Yi-kyung's revelations, the production team of Hangout With Yoo posted a statement on their official account the morning of the day before episode 305 aired, offering an explanation and apology. The production team said, "The 'myeonchigi' situation mentioned by Lee Yi-kyung was a failure of the production team to protect the cast. To give viewers laughter, Lee Yi-kyung spontaneously demonstrated the 'myeonchigi' situation during filming for the Hong Kong and Japan episodes, and at that time the production team judged the reaction was not bad," explaining the background of the 'myeonchigi coercion' controversy.
They continued, "Later, to provide entertainment again, we asked Lee Yi-kyung to perform the 'myeonchigi' once more, which was a step too far. In the production process, Lee Yi-kyung's line, "It's for the show!", mentioned by him, was edited out, and we failed to accurately gauge viewers' sensibilities, causing hurt to Lee Yi-kyung and discomfort to viewers. We attempted to convey that it was for entertainment through the line and subtitle choice "for the sake of fun, again..." selected instead of the edited line, but that was insufficient," they said.
The production team said, "After the controversy arose, we conveyed our apologies to Lee Yi-kyung and quickly edited out only the 'myeonchigi' explanation portion from the opening that was to air the following week and broadcast it. However, we acknowledge the production team's shortcomings in failing to fully resolve the 'myeonchigi' controversy, and we again apologize to Lee Yi-kyung and to everyone who felt uncomfortable."
Regarding the departure situation, they said, "Given that the dissemination of rumors about Lee Yi-kyung's private life was developing through the media and considering the nature of a weekly entertainment program that must provide laughter, we judged it would be difficult to continue together. As Lee Yi-kyung mentioned, the production team first recommended his withdrawal to the agency, and the production team stated it would respect the agency's decision even if the agency publicized the recommendation to withdraw. Afterwards, we received contact from Lee Yi-kyung's agency that they would choose voluntary withdrawal due to scheduling."
They added, "From the position of having suggested the withdrawal, the production team thought it would be the least courtesy to Lee Yi-kyung to ask the cast to mention voluntary withdrawal due to scheduling in consultation with the agency, and we conveyed this on the broadcast. The cast followed our request as a consideration for Lee Yi-kyung. We ask that people refrain from criticizing or making speculation about other cast members," they requested. They bowed their heads again, saying, "Once again, we sincerely apologize to Lee Yi-kyung, who was hurt, and to everyone who was worried."
Meanwhile, Lee Yi-kyung disclosed the complaint he filed against A, who spread the personal life rumor. He said, "After a warrant is issued the suspect will soon be identified," and added, "Even if she is in Germany, I will go in person to Germany to submit the complaint. There will be no leniency for malicious commenters either," declaring a stern response.
[Photo] OSEN DB, MBC
[OSEN]