Famous Variety Show Stars Including Lee Joon Under Fire Over Bad Manners Towards Female Staff In Hidden Prank Gone Viral
The cast members of KBS’s variety show 2 Days & 1 Night Season 4 have become embroiled in a controversy over bad manners.
Except for Moon Se Yoon, the other five cast members failed to assist a junior female writer who was carrying a heavy load by herself. However, is it fair to solely blame the members for this? The production team set the members up to take the brunt of the criticism for the sake of shock humor, only to quietly delete the rewatch video once the backlash came. The focus shifts to the production team’s lack of awareness, rather than the cast members who didn’t help.
The controversy arose from episode 244, aired on October 6. The production team staged a hidden camera prank as part of a segment to evaluate “manners” in their “Become a Hexagonal Man” challenge. They set up the scenario to observe how the cast would react when they encountered a junior female writer carrying watermelons with both hands while returning to their lodging.
The results were disappointing. Apart from Moon Se Yoon, none of the members helped her. Kim Jong Min asked, “Whose is this?” and walked by. Yoo Seon Ho reacted too late, saying, “Is it too late to help now?” Jo Se Ho passed by, engrossed in his phone, while Lee Joon, looking down at the ground, also ignored her. Lee Joon later commented, “The shocking thing is that even if I had noticed, I wouldn’t have helped. If she had looked like she was struggling, I would have, but she seemed fine.”
As Moon Se Yoon demonstrated by carrying both watermelons and creating a heartwarming moment, Lee Joon’s excuse only made things worse.
The production team’s handling of the situation is also clearly problematic as they deleted the video after the issue went viral.
Viewers’ reactions were mixed. Some criticized the cast for their lack of consideration, while others felt that labeling them as ill-mannered over this incident was an overreaction.
The core issue lies in the production team’s choices. It was they who set up the prank and edited the footage without considering how viewers might interpret the members’ actions. As a result, the cast faced public criticism, and the production team ended up deleting the clip. While both the cast and production team are at fault, the fact that this controversy occurred less than two months after the main PD’s replacement reflects the production team’s lack of awareness.
What do you think of this?
Source: A
