'national MC' Yu Jae-seok is in a period of hardship.
Beyond the November rumors, it has become such that people call it the December rumors, and the entertainment industry has been thrown into turmoil. From the end of November several controversies began to surface, and the fallout from those controversies also reached 'national MC' Yu Jae-seok.
First, Yu Jae-seok's hair was grabbed during the process of Lee Yi-kyung's departure from Hangout With Yoo. Lee Yi-kyung, who left Hangout With Yoo amid rumors about his private life, accused the production team of forcing him to feign ignorance, and when this was revealed some viewers insisted that the program's symbol-like figure Yu Jae-seok could not have been left out of the decision, grabbing at Yu Jae-seok's hair.
Although the matter seemed to be settled after the production team apologized, Yu Jae-seok's hair was grabbed again. After Lee Yi-kyung won in the 'AAA best choice' category at the 2025 AAA, he said, "SNL Korea, are you watching? I'm off on Thursday now. Haha hyung, Woo-jae hyung, I miss you," without mentioning Yu Jae-seok. After Lee Yi-kyung's departure, the Hangout With Yoo members are Yu Jae-seok, Haha and Joo Woo-jae, and because he mentioned two of them while excluding Yu Jae-seok, speculation arose that there might have been intent.
Also, a YouTuber claimed that during the process of Lee Yi-kyung's departure from Hangout With Yoo, while the production team and Lee Yi-kyung were coordinating opinions, when someone said it was a 'decision made by higher-ups,' they repeatedly asked, "Does that mean Yu Jae-seok's intention?" which caused a stir. The agency first said about the acceptance speech, "There was no intent to target a specific person, and we regret that it has become a topic of controversy," and regarding Yu Jae-seok's involvement they explained, "We only expressed regret about the decision, and we never asked or inquired whether the departure decision was Yu Jae-seok's opinion."
Despite that, Yu Jae-seok's name continues to be mentioned and his hair continues to be grabbed. Even though some associates who worked with Yu Jae-seok explained in interviews that he does not get involved in recruitment and departure processes in any program, the YouTuber's claims and suspicions mixed in are causing people to frown.
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