Actor Lee Yi-kyung's private life rumors and the controversy over his departure from "Hangout With Yoo" have continued, and the fallout is reaching even Yu Jae-seok. As Lee Yi-kyung and the production team repeatedly gave conflicting statements, confusion grew, and some viewers began to turn their suspicions toward Yu Jae-seok, leaving the innocent Yu Jae-seok also suffering.
The Lee Yi-kyung incident began with SNS revelations by a person surnamed A who claimed to be German. At the time, a netizen identified as a German woman, surnamed A, posted captures of messages she said were conversations with Lee Yi-kyung that included sexual remarks, and his agency Sangyoung ENT strongly denied the claims, saying "all contents are false and we are pursuing civil and criminal action for the spread of false information." Lee Yi-kyung also said, "A seizure and search procedure is underway, and the complaint has already been filed. We will pursue this to the end until the suspect is identified."
Regardless of whether the rumors were true, the controversy immediately affected his broadcasting activities. Lee Yi-kyung left MBC's "Hangout With Yoo" without farewells, and his joining of "The Return of SUPERMAN" also fell through. At the time, Yu Jae-seok explained on air that "he left because he had many drama and movie schedules," but the controversy entered a new phase when Lee Yi-kyung posted on SNS that "we were advised to leave variety shows and we chose to voluntarily withdraw,"
Later the production team explained, "We judged that it was difficult to continue together given the nature of a variety show that must make viewers laugh every week while rumors about Lee Yi-kyung's private life are being spread through the media," acknowledging that they had suggested he withdraw.
The problem is that during this process some viewers oddly began to target Yu Jae-seok. They alleged that Yu Jae-seok "did not protect his junior." In particular, speculation spread that Lee Yi-kyung was "taking a shot" because he did not mention Yu Jae-seok among the "Hangout With Yoo" members in his acceptance speech at an awards ceremony. The agency explained, "There was no intent to target a specific person," but the criticism did not subside.
As baseless speculation continued and Yu Jae-seok was drawn into the center of the controversy, his agency Antenna formalized legal action against malicious posts. Antenna said, "We have recently confirmed many acts that damage the personality of our artist," and added, "We will take legal measures against authors of malicious posts and comments that defame our artists' honor."
However, on the 16th a YouTube channel claimed that during discussions between the production team and Lee Yi-kyung over his departure from "Hangout With Yoo," the production team said it was "a decision made by higher-ups," and that Lee Yi-kyung's side repeatedly asked, "Who are the higher-ups? Do you mean Yu Jae-seok?" This again summoned Yu Jae-seok into the issue surrounding Lee Yi-kyung.
Later Lee Yi-kyung's agency denied this, saying "We received notice of his departure at a meeting with the 'Hangout With Yoo' production team, and the production team conveyed that 'this was a decision made above and there would be no reversal.' We clearly state that our agency only expressed regret at the production team's decision and did not ask or question whether the decision reflected Yu Jae-seok's opinion."
It added, "On the day of the departure notice, Lee Yi-kyung had a phone conversation with Yu Jae-seok in which they shared regretful sentiments, and the call ended with words of encouragement such as 'let's talk when we meet later.' Since then, Lee Yi-kyung has not mentioned Yu Jae-seok even once."
The rumors about Lee Yi-kyung are currently with investigative authorities, and the facts are expected to be determined through legal procedures. However, even though he is not at the center of this incident, Yu Jae-seok has been targeted by speculative remarks and malicious comments and has suffered unnecessary damage.
Both the production team and the agency have clearly denied Yu Jae-seok's involvement, but baseless links are repeatedly consumed online. Critics say that the continued speculation aimed at Yu Jae-seok, regardless of the parties' explanations, only fuels another controversy.
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]