"Isn't Yu Jae-seok the biggest victim at this point?". Broadcaster Yu Jae-seok unexpectedly lost members from two programs in which he was a regular. Actor Lee Yi-kyung left Hangout With Yoo, and comedian Cho Sae-ho left You Quiz on the Block, leaving the national MC to stay and hold them together.
On the morning of the 9th, Cho Sae-ho announced he would suspend activities. He decided to temporarily halt broadcasting activities while reflecting on his personal relationships in light of the recently surfaced 'organized crime involvement' allegations.
Earlier, a netizen with the nickname '표 검사' claimed on social media that Cho Sae-ho was close friends with Mr. Choi, who belongs to the largest organization in the Geochang area, and that he promoted franchises and even received expensive gifts in return. The user released a photo said to have been taken with Choi in the past and claimed Cho Sae-ho's wife also met Choi, indicating a close relationship. Even after Cho Sae-ho's side drew a line saying Choi was merely an acquaintance and the allegations of favors were groundless, the user warned of additional disclosures, sparking controversy.
As criticism mounted, Cho Sae-ho announced he would suspend activities. In a long post explaining his feelings, Cho Sae-ho again said, "The allegations raised because of that connection are completely untrue," but added, "Going through this made me question whether I am causing harm to the programs I am responsible for," and voluntarily withdrew from the tvN variety show You Quiz on the Block and KBS 2TV variety show 2 Days & 1 Night, where he was a regular.
Among them, You Quiz on the Block is a program that gained great popularity with Cho Sae-ho serving as a co-MC with Yu Jae-seok since 2018. Yu Jae-seok will meet viewers as the sole MC after seven years of the show.
Coincidentally, You Quiz on the Block is not the only show where Yu Jae-seok lost a regular member. He also experienced the departure of regular member Lee Yi-kyung from MBC variety show Hangout With Yoo (abbreviated as Hangout With Yoo).
Lee Yi-kyung was recently embroiled in rumors that he had sexual conversations with a foreign netizen who said he was German. The netizen claimed to have exchanged sexual messages with Lee Yi-kyung via social media and said the conversation included exchanges that implied sexual crimes, prompting the disclosure. The user denied the claim that it was groundless and reportedly said the conversation was manipulated by AI in response to Lee Yi-kyung's side saying they would pursue legal action, but then reversed that explanation and continued to assert sexual exchanges with Lee Yi-kyung. Ultimately, Lee Yi-kyung's side sued the poster for defamation over the spread of false information and is taking strong legal action.
However, in the process Lee Yi-kyung left Hangout With Yoo, where he was appearing, and was also unable to appear on KBS 2TV variety show The Return of SUPERMAN, where he was scheduled to appear as a new MC. In connection with this, Lee Yi-kyung revealed on his personal social media that he did not voluntarily leave Hangout With Yoo but was asked to step down by the production team, and that he learned of his removal from The Return of SUPERMAN through news reports before being notified, adding to the shock.
Lee Yi-kyung also said that he was asked by the production team to perform an unwanted slap-in-the-face scene in front of actress Shim Eun-kyung on Hangout With Yoo. He also said that, in a recent award acceptance speech, he publicly sent a love call to the SNL Korea production team about Thursday—the day Hangout With Yoo used to record—because that day was open, and he continued what looked like actions targeting Hangout With Yoo. When criticism arose that he intentionally did not mention Yu Jae-seok by naming only Haha and Joo Woo-jae as Hangout With Yoo members in the same speech, his agency issued an explanation that "there was no such intention."
In the end, Yu Jae-seok's presence has become even more prominent after losing regular members on both You Quiz on the Block and Hangout With Yoo. It all happened in the span of just over a month. The sudden ordeals faced by someone who had been carrying on normally appear to have left viewers bewildered.
Of course, You Quiz on the Block is a talk show with a large guest presence, and on Hangout With Yoo, aside from the departed member, Haha and Joo Woo-jae are still active as regular members, and moreover large-scale projects such as In.Sa.Mo are also underway. Yu Jae-seok does not have to fill the gaps in all programs by himself.
Nevertheless, the celebrity personal life controversies and successive resignations have made Yu Jae-seok the biggest victim. How will his empty seat and the programs' voids be filled? With the award season approaching at year-end, attention is focused on the increasingly lonely national MC. <
[Photo] OSEN DB.
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