On December 16, the YouTube channel “Entertainment President Lee Jin-ho” released a video titled “Why is Yoo Jae-suk criticized? The consequences of Lee Yi-kyung’s discovery of the German woman.”
Lee Yi-kyung had resigned from the show after a German woman, identified as A, made personal allegations that were later clarified as being generated by artificial intelligence.
During the 10th Asian Artist Awards 2025Lee Yi-kyung received the Best Choice Award and made comments referring to Yoo Jae-suk, saying: “Watching SNL. I’ll rest on Thursday. Haha, I miss you, Woo-jae hyung,” which sparked speculation that he had intentionally bypassed Yoo Jae-suk.
[His agency clarified], “Lee Yi-kyung wasn’t targeting Yoo Jae-suk. There’s no reason to. We hope his acceptance speech is taken literally.”
However, Lee Jin-ho revealed Lee Yi-kyung’s exit from Hangout with Yoo involved a complex negotiation process: ” A presented his allegations on Monday and clarified the matter on Tuesday as AI. The recording scheduled for Thursday was postponed and the team suggested a meeting the following Monday. Despite presenting legal evidence, Lee Yi-kyung’s team found the production team’s position unchanged.”
During the meeting, Lee Yi-kyung was informed of his departure, resulting in feelings of betrayal. When he asked who made the decision, the production team said it was a higher-level decision, not theirs. Lee Yi-kyung reportedly repeatedly asked if this meant Yoo Jae-suk, but the team did not respond.
Lee Jin-ho summarized: “Yoo Jae-suk’s involvement is unconfirmed and probably not, but that doesn’t eliminate speculation. This is why Lee Yi-kyung criticized the production and why rumors of Yoo Jae-suk’s bypass surfaced.”
Furthermore, Lee Yi-kyung revealed that he felt forced to publicly apologize by the show’s team, which he said damaged his image, adding another layer to the controversy.
Sources: Naver
