MBC 'Hangout With Yoo' said it had responded to Lee Yi-kyung's allegations about his departure.
Earlier, Lee Yi-kyung on the 21st posted on his social media his position on the personal-life rumors, alleging that he was asked by the production team to step down during the process of leaving 'Hangout With Yoo' and that the face-wiping controversy was also done at the request of the production team.
In response, 'Hangout With Yoo' on the 22nd released a statement on its official social media saying, "We apologize to everyone who loves 'Hangout With Yoo' for causing concern with this matter. Regarding the post Lee Yi-kyung wrote on Friday afternoon the 21st, we will speak openly about the issues related to 'Hangout With Yoo.'"
First, regarding the face-wiping controversy, the production team said, "The face-wiping situation mentioned by Lee Yi-kyung was a lapse on the part of the production team for failing to protect the cast. Lee Yi-kyung, who worked to bring laughter to viewers, spontaneously showed face-wiping during filming for the Hong Kong and Japan episodes, and at the time the production team judged the reaction was not unfavorable," adding, "Later, in an attempt to provide fun again, we asked Lee Yi-kyung to wipe his face, but that was excessive."
They continued, "During the production process, the line Lee Yi-kyung mentioned, 'It's for entertainment!' was edited out, and we failed to accurately grasp viewers' sentiments, which caused hurt to Lee Yi-kyung and discomfort to viewers. Instead of the edited line, we chose the line and subtitle 'for the sake of fun, again...' to convey a message to view it as entertainment, but that was insufficient."
They also bowed their heads, saying, "After the controversy arose, we expressed our apologies to Lee Yi-kyung and quickly edited out only the face-wiping clarification part from the opening that was to air the following week and broadcast it that week. However, we acknowledge the production team's shortcomings in not fully resolving the face-wiping controversy and once again apologize to Lee Yi-kyung and everyone who felt discomfort."
Regarding his departure, they said, "We judged that it was difficult for him to continue given the nature of a weekly entertainment program that must bring laughter while the spread of rumors about Lee Yi-kyung's private life was being generated through the media."
According to the production team, they did first urge the agency to ask him to leave as Lee Yi-kyung mentioned, and the production team said they had told the agency they would respect that choice even if the agency made the request public as an article, but afterward the agency contacted them saying it would choose voluntary departure due to scheduling.
'Hangout With Yoo' said, "From the production team's standpoint, having urged him to leave, we thought it was the minimum courtesy for Lee Yi-kyung to ask the cast to mention voluntary departure due to scheduling agreed with the agency, and we conveyed this via the broadcast. The cast followed our request as a consideration for Lee Yi-kyung. We ask that people refrain from blaming or speculating about other cast members."
Finally, they said, "The 'Hangout With Yoo' production team will more carefully and meticulously review the entire production process so that the efforts of cast members to bring laughter are not distorted. Once again, we respectfully apologize to Lee Yi-kyung, who was hurt, and to everyone we caused concern to."
The following is the full statement from the production team.
Hello. This is the 'Hangout With Yoo' production team.
We apologize to everyone who loves 'Hangout With Yoo' for causing concern with this matter. Regarding the post Lee Yi-kyung wrote on the afternoon of the 21st Friday, we will speak openly about the issues related to 'Hangout With Yoo.'
First, the face-wiping situation mentioned by Lee Yi-kyung was a lapse on the part of the production team for failing to protect the cast. Lee Yi-kyung, who worked to bring laughter to viewers, spontaneously showed face-wiping during filming for the Hong Kong and Japan episodes, and at the time the production team judged the reaction was not unfavorable. Afterwards, in an attempt to provide fun again, we asked Lee Yi-kyung to wipe his face, but that was excessive. During the production process, the line "It's for entertainment!" mentioned by Lee Yi-kyung was edited out, and we failed to accurately grasp viewers' sentiments, which caused hurt to Lee Yi-kyung and discomfort to viewers. Instead of the edited line, we chose the line and subtitle "for the sake of fun, again..." to convey a message to view it as entertainment, but that was insufficient.
After the controversy arose, we expressed our apologies to Lee Yi-kyung and quickly edited out only the face-wiping clarification part from the opening that was to air the following week and broadcast it that week. However, we acknowledge the production team's shortcomings in not fully resolving the face-wiping controversy and once again apologize to Lee Yi-kyung and everyone who felt discomfort.
Next, we will explain the departure situation. We judged that it was difficult for him to continue given the nature of a weekly entertainment program that must bring laughter while the spread of rumors about Lee Yi-kyung's private life was being generated through the media. As Lee Yi-kyung mentioned, the production team first urged the agency to ask him to leave, and the production team said it would respect that choice even if the agency publicized the request as an article. Afterwards, the agency contacted us saying it would choose voluntary departure due to scheduling. From the production team's standpoint, having urged him to leave, we thought it was the minimum courtesy for Lee Yi-kyung to ask the cast to mention voluntary departure due to scheduling agreed with the agency, and we conveyed this via the broadcast. The cast followed our request as a consideration for Lee Yi-kyung. We ask that people refrain from blaming or speculating about other cast members. The 'Hangout With Yoo' production team will more carefully and meticulously review the entire production process so that the efforts of cast members to bring laughter are not distorted.
Once again, we respectfully apologize to Lee Yi-kyung, who was hurt, and to everyone we caused concern to.
[Photo] OSEN DB,
[OSEN]