Actor Lee Yi-kyung's acceptance speech at his first public appearance since private life rumors turned into an unexpected controversy. As the name of broadcaster Yoo Jae-suk was not mentioned in the acceptance speech, suspicions of a "snipe" or "passing" arose, and the agency stepped in to calm the situation.
On the 7th, a representative of Lee Yi-kyung's agency Sangyoung ENT told OSEN, "Please refrain from overinterpreting the recent acceptance speech," and added, "There was absolutely no intention to snipe Yoo Jae-suk or to exclude any specific person."
On the 6th, Lee Yi-kyung went on stage as the winner of the "AAA best choice" category at the "10th Asia Artist Awards 2025" (AAA 2025) held at the National Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He thanked his agency and those involved, saying, "I am grateful that you listened to my voice along with the award at the end of the year."
He then directly addressed recent private life rumors surrounding him, saying, "It may not be fitting for a festive occasion, but it felt like being hit by hail that wasn't in the weather forecast for me," and added, "The person in question is currently contacting the company by e-mail to apologize and ask for leniency. I will hold them accountable to the end," drawing strong applause from the audience.
At the end of his acceptance speech that day, he also added the remark, "'SNL Korea,' are you watching? Now Thursdays are off. I miss Haha hyung and Woojae hyung, haha." Coincidentally, MBC's "Hangout With Yoo" is a program that records on Thursdays, and mentioning only Haha and Joo Woo-jae from his past collaborations while omitting Yoo Jae-suk's name sparked the controversy.
Some recalled conflicts that surfaced during the process of leaving "Hangout With Yoo," interpreting that Lee Yi-kyung intentionally did not mention Yoo Jae-suk. In fact, amid the fallout from private life rumors, Lee Yi-kyung left "Hangout With Yoo" without a separate farewell remark, and later posted on social media, "My departure was at the production team's suggestion," revealing that he had a dispute with the production team.
At the time, Yoo Jae-suk addressed the situation on air, saying, "After discussions with the production team due to drama and movie schedules, he left the show," but some public opinion later criticized Yoo Jae-suk for "not protecting a junior." In response, Yoo Jae-suk's agency Antenna recently announced it would take strong action against malicious posts and false rumors.
As the controversy spread, Lee Yi-kyung's side drew a line under misunderstandings surrounding the acceptance speech remarks, reiterating, "It was simply an expression of emotion as it was, and it was not a message aimed at any specific person."
Separately, Lee Yi-kyung suffered another ordeal recently from an SNS exposé by an overseas internet user. The exposer once apologized, saying, "It was a post manipulated by AI," then reversed that position, repeatedly deleting and reposting the post and increasing confusion. Lee Yi-kyung's side filed a complaint for defamation over spreading false information, and is awaiting the results of the investigation.
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]