"Haha hyung, Woojae hyung, I miss you." Actor Lee Yi-kyung has sparked controversy for not mentioning only broadcaster Yoo Jae-suk among the members of Hangout With Yoo, from which he had left.
Lee Yi-kyung was selected as the winner in the 'AAA best choice' institutional sector at the 10th Asia Artist Awards 2025 (AAA 2025) held at Kaohsiung National Stadium in Taiwan on Oct. 6 and took the stage.
In particular, he drew attention by directly mentioning recent private life rumor controversies in his acceptance speech. I am sincerely grateful to the officials who gave me my voice and this award at the end of 2025. I also want to thank the head of my agency, he said, before adding that although such words may not fit the festive atmosphere, lately it felt like being hit by hail that wasn't in the weather forecast. The suspect is currently sending apologies and requests for leniency to the company's email. I think they'll definitely be caught, he said, drawing support.
But perhaps because his sense of injustice was strong, Lee Yi-kyung went one step further. 'SNL Korea, are you watching? I'm taking Thursdays off now,' he said, indirectly referring to MBC variety show Hangout With Yoo. He added, "Haha hyung, Woojae hyung, I miss you."
Hangout With Yoo started from the producers' idea to take every Thursday off — the day Infinite Challenge used to record — after Infinite Challenge ended. It has continued recording every Thursday. Starting with Yoo Jae-suk, the 'national MC' who was a spiritual pillar since Infinite Challenge, Haha and Joo Woo-jae remained as fixed members, and Lee Yi-kyung referred to this situation.
The problem was that he did not mention Yoo Jae-suk. Although Haha and Joo Woo-jae were mentioned directly, criticism poured in that he did not mention Joo Woo-jae, who would have had the greatest impact. Critics said it could lead to baseless speculative rumors.
In fact, after Lee Yi-kyung left Hangout With Yoo, unexpected criticism had fallen on Yoo Jae-suk. Because of this, Yoo Jae-suk's agency Antenna announced a firm response policy against false rumors and malicious posts. However, Lee Yi-kyung's failure to explicitly mention Yoo Jae-suk once again raised speculative claims that Yoo was involved in his departure from Hangout With Yoo, and critics said that was reckless.
Lee Yi-kyung was recently engulfed in a private life scandal alleging he exchanged sexual messages via SNS with an internet user who claimed to be from Germany. His side responded that the claims were 'groundless,' but he withdrew from Hangout With Yoo and the KBS 2TV variety show The Return of SUPERMAN, which he was slated to appear on. The internet user apologized, saying the exposé had been manipulated by AI in response to the 'groundless' denial, but repeatedly reversed that apology, saying it was not false and continued the dispute over the truth.
In response, Lee Yi-kyung broke the silence of his agency-centered response and directly posted the complaint on SNS, appealing his innocence. He said he did not voluntarily leave Hangout With Yoo but left at the producers' suggestion, and that his departure from The Return of SUPERMAN was also confirmed by an article, which drew sympathy.
Afterward, public opinion that Lee Yi-kyung's private life rumors were speculative became dominant, and supporters formed for the man who had been dropped from broadcasts. However, there are rising criticisms that his words and actions, which seemed aimed at the 'national MC' Yoo Jae-suk, were somewhat reckless. His frustrated remarks, driven by a sense of injustice, evoke pity. Care must be taken so that the possibility of gratuitous personal attacks does not dilute the support for him. Hopefully he will fully clear his name through legal resolution instead of unnecessary exhausting public debate.
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]