The Real Reason for Kim Jung Hyun’s Shocking Departure Midway Through MBC Drama Time Reportedly Due to Being Unable to Act with His Costar
I’ll preface this post by saying that I believe all the negative news stories coming out this week on K-actor Kim Jung Hyun is due to his contract dispute with his agency, he wants to end it early and sign with another agency reportedly Culture Depot which reps his former costar Seo Ji Hye. Kim Jung Hyun’s career was on fast track after he did School 2017 and the next year he was the male lead in high profile MBC melodrama Time. The media and public was perplexed seeing him at the press conference absolutely displaying what we moms of the world recognize as “shit face” when our teen son does not want to be there but is forced to. Then midway through the drama the production suddenly announced his departure, his male lead was being killed off to explain it, and his agency said it was due to severe mental wellbeing issues. Mental health is absolutely paramount and that was that for the incident since the drama was bringing in low ratings anyways. Now three years later K-ent is reporting that the real reason for his departure was being unable to act opposite his costar, namely female lead Seohyun. The problem kept getting worse as filming went on and the crew saw it, the screenwriter was asked to reduce the OTP romance to near zero with rewrites (which happened while she was in the hospital so that was awful sounding), and in the end it was untenable so Kim Jung Hyun and the production parted ways.
Seohyun was said to have cried a lot filming this drama both for the story and for the set mood where Kim Jung Hyun would not acknowledge her, sat in his van during breaks, and any romantic scene between them he appeared visibly uncomfortable filming it. Reportedly after shooting a scene with Seohyun after she touched his hand he then wiped it with a wet nap after which made her cry because who wouldn’t. Kim Jung Hyun apologized to Seohyun afterwards but nothing helped to change the disconnect. The rumor among the production team was that Kim Jung Hyun’s girlfriend at that time, another actress, was the reason for his awkward and uncomfortable attitude doing a romance drama but Kim Jung Hyun when asked if that was true said absolutely not. My take is that both could be true – what happened on the set of Time and the fact that this is all being revealed to destroy Kim Jung Hyun’s career now that he’s trying to leave his agency when before his agency covered for him. If it’s all true, he owes Seohyun a massive apology since as a ACTOR his sole job is to pretend shit and if he can’t do that then he’s just failed that particular project. But I do believe that people have feelings, emotions, and shortcomings and for whatever reason he could not do his job on Time then so be it, take responsibility and then move on since it’s all over and done with.
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I guess I suspected it since he looked quite pissed during the press conference. Anyone can tell he was actively trying to avoid Seohyun. I never believed in the “method acting” excuse.
He seems to be talking to his time co-star casually in a lot of bts… He most of the times are very focused and even in some of the mr.queen bts he was focused when everyone around him was playing around… That doesn’t mean he don’t get along with his co-stars… Its pretty obvious that he has really good working relationship with shin Hye sun…
Also when time was onair he wasn’t a big enough actor to control the writer and director and the entire working process of the drama… I drama goes onair only after the shooting stars 2-3 months ago… If he was that much of an asshole on the sets the production house and channel could have easily replaced him before the drama went on air instead of killing his character off half way through and even blacklist him… Isn’t mbc like a national channel… They have all the power to black list a rookie actor showing that much tantrums…
I’d be careful with relaying this information as actual news tbh. No dog in this fight, but his agency is clearly going scorched earth on him, so we can’t tell for certain what’s true and what’s not. For what it’s worth, I watched Mr Queen and liked it enough to check out the behind the scenes videos – initially I thought he wasn’t compatible with his Shin Hye Sun, but quickly realized that he’s just a very very awkward dude, with everyone tbh. As someone with anxiety myself, it doesn’t seem too farfetched that baseline moderate anxiety could snowball into standoffish severe anxiety that’s expressed in the way this is described tbh; I know I’ve had times like that, especially during periods significant professional/life change. That being said, if there’s nothing we’re missing behind the scenes, the behavior displayed here definitely warrants a sincere personal apology to Seohyun.
But his anxiety just makes him pissed off at one person?? And as others have said below, he recovered pretty quickly for such severe mental health problems.
He took 11 months break and it’s not pretty quickly… My friend broke up with her 10yr old bf and she needed therapy but she came back to normal in 3-4 months even though she had to take therapy for an year… In his case it was just being too much into a character…
I’m not surprised at that time it was obvious he didn’t like his leading lady.
My take is the agency wants to destroy him since he wants to leave now. He should have just finished his contract before joining a new one. Contract disputes are messy and tend to harm the actor’s careers.
Totally believing this rumor. No excuses can be made on his actions in that press conference. He was blatantly avoiding and being rude to Seohyun.
That same year, all SNSD members have publicly poured encouraging messages in her social media account—the girls must have known. Seohyun has also kept in touch with their other co-stars, so the problem is clearly not her.
Drama just keeps on coming. I guess Lydia1’s revelations have some merits so Koala took it to a higher level. Man, agency disputes are no joke. I wonder how many cover-ups have happened in the past to smooth over real scandals. How many lies have been told to the public to drive different narratives. Bring it on Lydia1, Pam & Koala. I’m not Korean so I’ll enjoy the real life dramas than turds like Sisyphus.
Well, clearly this man needs a lecture in mannerism. I understand that he was going through an emotional period; however, that does not justify his actions. Additionally, Seohyun debut earlier than him, and he needs to show her respect as she is his sundae.
you don’t need to interact a ton behind the scenes just because you’re costars so I don’t get the deal over him sitting in his van. the other stuff is strange and doesn’t make sense even if he had a gf at the time.. why would that make things uncomfortable between him and his costar?? it’s a job.
I don’t know this guy or his works but this all sounds like a smear campaign from his former company. why’s this being revealed now three years after the fact.
Like a smear campaign from his former company, yes maybe it’s right, but don’t say it’s strange and doesn’t make sense when he clearly made Seohyun cried everyday on set. I understand if he didn’t want to interact with others, but can you imagine she saw directly he wipes his hand after she touched it, like is she a virus? It’s totally rude. Lucky that Seohyun never said anything back then
Its reveal might be a smear campaign, but in the press con video he was undeniably rude and humiliated his co-star on screen, in front of many journalists. If he could do that in front of everyone, those staff account on what happened behind the scene is not far-fetched at all, tbh.
And now their drama co-stars and staffs are liking & commenting encouraging messages to Seohyun, who just posted her thanks to people who love and support her (she is not directly mentioning this incident). So I guess that’s pretty telling too.
I watched him in Waikiki after humongous hype from CLOY. Snooze fest for me. I wanna hear Seohyun’s real side of the story. Was she being a mean girl on set to him? A guy won’t hate on his co-star for no reason even if his jealous ex-gf was being bitchy about him smooching Seohyun. I remember Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte hated each other’s guts during filming of I Love Trouble (irony of title). Character clash or something more than temper tantrums? Hmmmm.
If you say that guy won’t hate for no reason….. By your logic why would seohyun be bitchy to him for no reason?
Me playing devil’s advocate. If I say something controversial, more ppl will spill. Not a fan of both. So far, behind the scene staff are on Seohyun’s side so evidence weighs on her favour as the nice girl. One point ticked off. So he’s the bad guy here then unless more accusations spill forth. SNSD girls generally have good reputation like Yoona, Sunny, Yuri, Sooyoung, etc.
I feel so sorry for her if it’s the truth and if he indeed has mental issues, I hope he goes get adequate treatment. I feel so bad for her, it’s not right. She deserves all the hugs in the universe ❤️ My question right now is when will he speak up on this issue? Like share your thoughts so we can process everything better.
He is in contract termination dispute with his agency. His old contract expires in a month, his agency wants to extend it a year since he took 11 year break during Time. There’s no way he’ll talk before they settle it either way. So, nothing until sometime next month.
Is this a consistent history of behavior? Ive never seen articles from other sets?
Because no offense, the “stank face” and “wiping hands” incidents sound weak sauce in this era of violent school bullying and harassment scandals. It makes me wonder why this specific drama at this specific time. Sus.
If what he did is true, he does need to apologize. Being an actor, you will be paired with people you don’t like or have conflict with the story, whatever reason. This is still a career, get your act together, you signed a contract and is paid for a reason. Fake it until you make it. Disappointed. I actually liked Time when it aired.
If his mental illness is super severe, shouldn’t it take more than 11 months to recover? He literally did two dramas back to back and one is a historical drama too. It only take 11 months to heal something that severe? The fact that his agency manage to get him in two high profile projects was amazing so I can see why they are mad. Seohyun is a super nice girl so I know she probably just held it in for the sake of the drama. SNSD fans also noticed something was off back then but didn’t do anything for Seohyun’s sake smh
I will not downplay his mental health suffering during that time, he seemed genuinely unwell. Whoever/whatever caused that made him project all the sht to Seohyun… But unprofessionalism and contract dispute will not take him far despite being good at his job, especially in entertainment industry. Everyone is replaceable ?♀️
Perhaps his agency forced him to do the drama “times” ( that i watched ) , perhaps he did have mental health issues but there is a thing called professionalism . What made me confused back then was the fact that it takes time to find the good treatment and recover when you suffer to the point to leave a production but he quickly recovered for “CLOY” !
I also have mental issues and it’s hard for me to work like normal people… So, I decided to work on a small company with easy job desks even though I have master degree.
However, whenever I’m on a working place I always try hard to do my job professionally. And it takes me 3.5 years to finally able to take bigger responsibility and thinking to move on to another company.
What I’m trying to say is… usually people with mental issues will acknowledge that they can’t take bigger role because it can affected them badly and others…and it’ll take years to recover, not months.
How do you know he is not getting therapy and medication now? Is there only one type of mental health issues or a whole spectrum out there? Do you know anything about his treatments, his current health condition or how he manages anything in his life? Your experience is unique to you and his can be unique to him. Unless you are in direct knowledge of all of the above, as they say in mental health related education, don’t downplay another person’s suffering and struggles.
Different people deal with their mental health in different ways… Its not a fever or a cold that will go away in a week for majority of the people… It don’t have a fixed time gap… Some people will get over in months and some take years to cop up with it…
@lav i understand because it took me more than 3 years to adjust my treatmment, i had to change a lot of things in my life .
Its literally anonymous rumors and it ramped up the moment he started shopping around for new agency. We don’t know anything legitimate here. SO Wait. The guy can’t even clarify anything until his agency dispute is settled, he is literally trying to null his contract. I’ll wait till then. All I know is you can’t ask people to be open about mental health issues and then go around calling them liars in next breathe based on he said, she said on internet without solid proof. He is getting threats from all around. Whatever happened back then, it’d come out either way. If he was lying, it’d come out…if he indeed get professional, psychiatric help…it’d be revealed as well.
His agency probably released the dating rumors which led to the revelation that he has contract problems with them arising from the 11-month hiatus. He had it all coming tbh people will naturally be curious what went on in that drama three years ago. He humiliated Seohyun during the presscon and the hostility continued that she was crying every in between takes and took a hiatus as well since her mental health suffered too, that’s very horrible.. he was awful. He caused huge inconvenience to the whole production too but his agency talked it over so he won’t be sued. I say he is leaving in bad faith and is burning the bridge. I wouldn’t say his career is over because he is a man, that’s just the way it is.
Oh so from reading the comments above, seems like he thought his contract was expiring in May that’s why he was entertaining talks with other agencies, but his current agency wants the contract extended since he took a break for 11 months. Either way, looks like none of them had bad intentions in the beginning, just misunderstanding of the terms of the contract. But now, it’s a full-blown drama. Mental health issues are not like ordinary illnesses, there are no obvious outward physical signs of the ailment, no blood tests to prove it unlike diabetes etc., hence it is difficult to say if another person is really going through it or not. We can also never really say that he has “recovered” for CLOY, he can just be functioning fine on the outside but it could still be a daily struggle for him even during Mr Queen. They have bad days and good days. I feel bad for him actually, but would also understand if production companies might see him as unreliable and might think twice before signing him up, given the numerous other talented actors that they can sign up these days.
I watched the clip of the press junket with Seohyun and he was super rude to her in front of the cameras, I felt so bad for her; she’s someone I admire as an actress. I don’t know if he legitimately has mental issues or not as I’m not a professional, nor am I his psychologist; but for those saying it’s just a smear tactic from his agency – I don’t believe it’s unfounded – it’s possible that he was genuinely guilty of being rude and obnoxious, but his agency covered for him and did a lot of damage control on his behalf, so that his career would continue smoothly. Now they feel he is disloyal and unappreciative of their efforts, they decide to release it all to the media making him the bad guy. In retrospect, I’ll say that there must be better and safer ways to part ways with one’s agency than to be caught actively shopping around for a new one before the contact expires especially if said agency has enough dirt on you that can be used as a smear campaign if they so choose, like in this case.
There’s no mental illness just a mental ex-girlfriend who is toxic plus personality challenged. Of course any man saddled with a girlfriend like that will have depression. Who wouldn’t? She’s a wonderful actress though, that much cred I will give her since she has conned enough people to form a big enough rabid fanbase for herself. But personalities that stink can’t cover up for long. Its just a matter of time everything gets outed through this case or down the road. Disclaimer – I don’t know her or worked with her personally. But hear about her terrible rep from others who have and its really not pretty.
All that said, my admiration for this actor has dropped to the pits since this whole thing erupted and gets uglier by the day. Was still happy for him when heard that he got out of that toxic relationship sometime back and got a second chance to turn things around for himself. Then this happened. What he does in his life lives or die with the woman he is with. Throw everything or everyone else under the bus if it does not go with the partners narrative. *facepalm*
Damn Lydia1! The things you must know! Yeesh. Just read a shocking exposé by Dispatch about the alleged ex-girlfriend and my jaw is on the floor!!!!! You did say in the other article that she was currently very famous. And her fans on Twitter are going nuts, demanding her agency to protect her from slander. Gosh!
@Lydia1
Wonderful actress, indeed. She’s even bagged a Baeksang nomination. Lol. Baby girl sure attached herself to the right agency this time for her career to finally take off.
Tea!!!! Can you give a hint who this mental-ex might be?
@Lydia1 wow.. no wonder u said u will never watch kim namgil island. must be the female lead
Right? If you saw my comments in that post, I had a feeling it was because of the actress. Crickets!
Lol. Busted.
Wow, it is really Seo Ye Ji. Damn Lydia1, I bow down to your prowess. Respect, you are bloody legend.
whah shocking!… I start to appreciate SeoHyun’s Acting through TIME. She is seriously good there. I liked Kim Jung Hyun, But I stay for TIME for Seo HYun. It’s seriously sad me they have bad relationship off screen. No wonder those hate each other scene between them look so palpable.
have u guys read the revelation by dispatch just now? I’m just tooooo SHOCK! seo yeji and him? Where’s their humanity? poor seohyun. i just get to like seo yeji and him. but now this happens. now i remembered why i despised him back then. and i quite bewildered seeing him differently in cloy conference back then. but the drama success made me forget his bad wrong doing to seohyun
I guessed it was her when there was mention of a psycho ex since there were rumours about them in the past. Very disappointed in this actress.
I hope to God that those rumors of her dating her current labelmate are not true. Get her as far away from him as possible!
Dun worry about that. Apparently shes done with that current label mate and dating his “cousin” the CEO now. That one’s been covered by a top korean tabloid reporter in his own youtube news channel and went viral in many gossip news portals so…
Yeah, I read about that when it came out. That they dated sometime back then she moved on to his cousin. But it was debunked, no? The reporter was dismissed as a trash reporter trying to smear the actress. But if it’s true, why would the actor work with her on that drama? And why would the cousin sign and date his own cousin’s ex? What happened to bros before….?
Its a dirty dirty circle. Put your trust in few. Most aren’t saints. I stop at this.
Urgh! Kudos to you for being able to work in such a nasty industry. I pray you’re always in good health. The best thing, it seems, is not to stan anyone. At the end of the day, these people are humans, not infallible gods. Just detach and enjoy their work, if good. That way you can save yourself a great deal of heartbreak when their dirty laundry comes out.
She really dated Kim Soo Hyun before?
@Rei
It’s all speculation until proven otherwise.
Claimed lawyer Ockoala is reporting this kind of malicious and damaging gossip. Ah it’s a blog, she can write whatever she wants.
Well it’s been revealed, Seo Yeaji is the ex-girlfriend LOL
Part of this feels like media play from his agency. Remember what happened to Go Hyun Jung (Return), when the PD said she hit him, and etc? Very suspicious. Anyways, all I got to say is his behavior while not great, does make me wonder how many more cases like this occur but are died down b/c of money/power.
Ex. Joo Jin Mo Phone Case and how Jang Dong Gun was included in the texts as one of the people, who went to clubs with him. And how both of them flirted with women there and compared them on the phones. Joo Jin Mo didn’t have a gf at the time (that we know of) compared to Jang Dong Gun who was married.
Also not everyone needs to get along with their co-stars.I remember Seolhyun said on set Kim Rae Won and Lee Min Ho was friendly to her. But after the film ended, they were cold and nonchalant towards her. Eh, what can you do. Shrugs shoulders. But let’s be honest here, if a woman pulled off the same antics that Kim Jung Hyun did, they would be considered personal non grata in the industry.
Saw the clip with Seohyun and its straight up rude and must have forgotten his manner at home with his professionalism; he can reject the girl’s hand politely but no!he gave her the most bored and disgusted face in midst of presscon. Its funny how this issue reveals the duality among people. Like they’re saying cut him of some slack he’s going through something(he’s an actor he’s expected to be professional atleast on public),or like poor Junghyun the actress must have done something to piss him bla bla bla. If this happened to be an actress they will mull her over like a mad dog.
I saw the press con clip for the first time on Twitter yesterday and he F/CKED UP BIG TIME. The way he flinched from her like she was poison. And then abruptly walked away and left her there. In front of all those flashing cameras??? Sh/t! I felt so bad for the actress. Cheers to her for managing to keep her composure.
Oh my, just read that transcript of their text messages from Dispatch. Thanks for the clues above, everyone. First off, I wonder if it’s even legal to publish a private conversation. Second, IF true (all caps IF, not sure what’s true or fake news at this point), wow, looks to be a toxic relationship, but to drag the ex in the middle of the agency’s dispute with him is just as toxic behavior. Just gonna sit here with my popcorn and wait for the story to unfold further. Never a dull moment in kdramaland.