It’s easy to make comparisons but only those with the same fact patterns really provide insight. K-actress Seo Ye Ji has disappeared from public view since scandal broke last month that she was the instigator as the then girlfriend of Kim Jung Hyun‘s cold and awkward behavior on the set of his drama Time. She was further revealed to have also mistreated staff, lied about her study abroad credentials in Spain, and overall was revealed to be a rather shitty person with huge controlling tendencies. She skipped the press conference for her movie Recalled with Kim Kang Woo and from all accounts appear to be laying low to let this scandal pass. Recalled opened number 1 at the box office though not big ticket sales just the top movie for that week, and her acting and the movie both got good reviews. A reporter wondered if she can survive the scandal like same way veteran top actor Lee Byung Hun did a few years ago during his Lee Santa controversy (cheating on wife Lee Min Jung with a wannabe actress and then getting blackmailed by her and her friend). He came back of course but the difference with Seo Ye Ji is: (1) he’s got 20 more years under his belt then her, (2) his reputation within the industry is good, he behaves respectfully at work and has never been bandied about as someone with a bad attitude professionally, (3) his scandal was cheating on wife but did not impact others or caused problems to a movie/drama, and (4) he’s a guy and she’s a girl. I mention the last issue because male actors or stars get way more leeway to comeback from scandals than women and that’s a fact, though Seo Ye Ji’s biggest sin in the mind of netizens and industry peers is that her own selfish emotional needs led to negative impact on the cast and crew of Time and that may be an unforgiveable transgression.
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I hope she survives, she has potential as an actress. If people stopped looking at their personal lives, you will see they are both similar in trying to pursue the same goals in acting. This is ultimately what should be judged if looking from a professional perspective.
Yet the whole point is that her very personal life had large ramifications on the professional lives of others.
If its true, I will never like her personality. However, I will not connect her personal life esp if its not a “crime” to her professional work. I hope she’ll just for the meantime as a movie actress. She can widen her resume in the big screen where she could be respected as an actress. She might get big there then netizens will never question again [or might just forget the issue like LBH] if she’ll come back in doing tv dramas in the future. She’s too good and KJH as well so I believe they could still make it.
She can survives and comeback to dramaland as long she open her mouth and say apologize before to late like yoon eun hye lol.If cheating man,drug,toilet chun,rapist etc still survive and still have fans why she can’t?
She can, but might be a bit more difficult especially if she doesn’t have a strong backer (i.e. agency, sponsor, etc). LBH, aside from being man, has also become a strong force in the industry. Hence, it is much more difficult to blackball him. Her current agency has Kim Soo Hyun as its “bargaining chip”, but if they’re smart enough they will not tarnish KSH just to try to negotiate for SYJ. So, she might need a bigger force behind her. But then again, she has some support from her movie director in Recalled, hence she might go the Park Hye Soo route, who is shooting a low-budget film from a Director she has worked before. She will still be given work, but she might follow in footsteps of YEH and PYC…. low profile and maybe low-budget projects as re-starter.
Her fans were amazing though they really pooled in money to buy tickets for her movie. Even though they couldnt physically watch it.
Both are trash but not all trash stink equally. Seo Ye Ji is more a stinking trash than LBH.
Geez, people really believe anything they are told.
Imagine that. It started with a dating scandal. SYJ was not even a party of such relationship but just so happened an ex of one of the parties, who at one point had shown unprofessionalism toward his colleague then accused her as the reason of such bad behaviour.
Miraculously, dating scandal forgotten. KJH became a pitiful victim and SYJ became a witch bitch and everyone is hunting her. So weird.
I second you here. It’s kinda weird because KJH should have been a pefectional actor from the start if he accepted the drama. Just plain weird.
KJH already apologized and got cancelled by Knetz that’s why there’s no mention of him anymore.
SYJ on the other hand has a whole list of controversies with evidence from various reporters. Defamation laws in Korea are much more severe, so if there were false they could get sued. Her staying silent says a lot about her previous actions.
Maybe you could enlighten me this so called evidence. Who said? What was said? Links
I have read articles and the way I am seeing it she’s the real victim here.
Btw, I am not a fan of anyone. I say in favor of someone whom I feel is wronged.
Ps We should not tolerate injustices and at the same time do not develop a vengeful culture. Don’t judge.
She may not be able to reach the superstardom that she was on track for, but I think she’ll be able to survive and make a good living. I hear she can be very charismatic and magnetic – and that can also get you pretty far. And she’s got thick enough skin to power through the controversy. And with all eyes on her, she’ll have to suck it up and treat her staff like human beings.
I think she may be able to come back to the big screen as a supporting character. Small screen is a bit tricky – perhaps only through smaller channels like TV Chosun or MBN or a web drama.
Marrying her current boyfriend in the next few years may also help – locks her out of the dating pool and not have to worry about her dating one of the actors in the drama you’re working on.
Do realise that box office numbers in this day and age are very easy to manipulate, because of covid. According to KOFIC, the box office number for Recalled is around $2 million USD. That is not a lot of money. Especially if you have Kim Kang-woo’s fans also chipping in.
Lee Byung-hun is someone who is well-connected. He has the backing of Daewoo: https://www.hancinema.net/hancinema-s-news-lee-byung-hun-s-adoptive-father-dies-136631.html
Whenever an actor or an actress have a scandal, they will always mention LBH’s comeback, but that is not fair as he is seriously connected… As far as I know, his scandal came to light because he went to the police instead of shutting it down. In other words, he is so confident that he did not even attempt to hide it. No actor or actress deal with a scandal in such an aggressive way.
I seriously believe if he was in SYJ’s case, he would make KJH, the directors, the whole drama production crew and Seohyun write him an apology letter and they would do it as well… I think he is that powerful
I remember watching Lee Byung Hun’s film “Inside Man” (2015) theatrical cut and his role was minimized which was the consequence of his scandal. But the film and actor still won awards. There was even a director’s cut, 3 hours long that included more LBH scenes.
There’s a big difference between SYJ and LBH. LBH is A-lister and has worked with distinguished directors and good films. SYJ is a good actress, but was just a rising star. Her attitude/personality will probably be the biggest thing associated with her more than her works. It will depend on how much the entertainment industry sees her value.
Wow didn’t know everyone is really into cancel culture k-medias is really making money out of seo yeaji i dont really care of her scandal as long she give a good performance is what i care. Cause she an actress and that what i’m going to judge is her acting not her personality if hating her in person is what you into then dont watch her simple
I mean if Lee Jin Wook can make a come back, when he wasn’t even that big of a name says a lot no?! Dude came back from a career killing scandal with Return which did great. After that, he got Voice 2 and 3, and Sweet Home. Now he’s the lead of a 50 million (?) the one Won Bin turned down, tvN fantasy romance show. I mean, really?! Gross. Just do it the way people hit with scandals do, stay low for 1-2 years. Come back quietly in indie films, and then rebound with a drama role (either 2nd lead or lead to their partner). And boom, next drama, and the one after that solidifies their name again.
Wouldn’t be shocked if SYJ can come back after 1-2 years, and in 3-5 years, I can see her climb her way back again. Plus, she has that personality of not backing down, and they say only the ‘strongest’ survive in this brutal industry.
You forgot which agency Lee Jin Wook is under. B.H Entertainment. An agency that belongs to Lee Byung Hun
And to compare SYJ to LBH is just not apple to apple. She is no LBH.. not even near. At.all. LBH was already a very HUGE name (the one who made into Hollywood in big way) with HUGE power before his scandal
People sometimes also forget that there is a difference between being big in South-East Asia and being big in South-Korea. Lee Jin-wook might not have pan-Asian fame, but he was certainly a bigger name in South-Korea than Seo Ye-ji was – let alone comparing Lee Byung-hun with SYJ.
Let’s be real here, It’s Okay Not To Be Okay was mainly big in South-East Asia and it semi-flopped in South-Korea (if you compare it with Kim Soo-hyun’s previous dramas such as My Love From A Star and Moon Embracing the Sun). From all the Saturday-Sunday dramas on TVN, it had one of the lowest viewership ratings ever. What I am trying to say is that SYJ is still not an established household name in Korea contrary to what people saying, her popularity is driven by the international audience. Korea seriously disliked the drama… Even Kim Soo-hyun’s star power could not boost the ratings into double digits (it was not even close).
Also, Korea can forgive everything, but lying about academic credentials is hitting a nerve with them.
Korea seriously disliked the drama? What an expert on Korea you are. So the 4%-5%-6%-7% ratings it got were from the sizable ghost population in Korea? And these same ghosts were the ones who made it no.1 on Netflix Korea and gave it high ratings on TVing? And the K-industry people who praised the drama are also ghosts? And the K-mental health professionals and people with mental health issues who praised the relatability and near-perfect depiction are also ghosts? Not to mention the K-viewers and K-celebs who raved about the drama on SNS? And the index rankings it topped? Just because the ajummas and older gen didn’t tune in doesn’t mean “Korea seriously disliked the drama”. You sound just as inane as your namesake.
That’s also true @Lystian about LJW. Agency has a lot of power to back up their clients. So for SYJ, she has to hope her backer up supports her thorough this whole ordeal.
As for SYJ, yeah she’s in no way up to that level of stardom, she was rising there. I foresee her coming back, but in Indies/not buzzed/big project dramas in like 2-3 yrs.
@adyjunjihyun Kim Hye Soo also had an academic scandal a decade ago, which was shocking at the time considering her status. That being said, SYJ is no KHS lol. Only time will tell, with SYJ, but people with her mentality tend to claw their way up back again.
@Pam I recommend Seo Ye-ji to try to join Lee Byung-hun’s agency, because he can make any scandal go away. Check his roster of actors that made successful comebacks after scandals arguably worse than SYJ’s: Han Hyo-joo, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Ji-ah and Choo Ja-hyun. I am confident he will make Erika Karata’s scandal go away as well… This dude is powerful.
He also earns my “appreciation” (for a lack of a more fitting word). He at least stands by his people, unlike some agencies that drop their stars or let the gossips pile up.
I suppose the question is will production companies risk working with her with the current perception that her personal attitude might impact the well-being of other actors, staff and crew. Right now, her image is that she has the potential to cause harm to other people in the industry as well as jeopardize their projects.
i think that the lying part is more severe than being a queen control.My respect for her has dropped when i knew the fact that she lied about studying in spain. I don’t mind about her being the controlling gf. that’s her personal life and it’s up to the bf to manage that. but when she lied to the public, i think it’s quite low of her.