Shortly after a video of female comedian(s) on SNL Korea grabbing K-pop group, B1A4 members’ private parts (?) was uploaded on 26th of October, the fans went livid.
So SNL Korea made an apology via Facebook as follows.
“Hello, this is SNL Korea. We apologize to the B1A4 members and their fans, if they were disgusted by the aggressive actions taken against the group, released through a video on Facebook yesterday (26th). It was an appropriate action toward the hosts and we will ensure nothing like this happens again. We again apologize to B1A4 and their fans.”
The video showed Seyoung Lee, a female comedian on SNL Korea Season 8, touching (or attempting to touch) B1A4 members’ specific body parts when several SNL staffs bombarded the members for greetings backstage.
Although the video was of poor-quality, it clearly showed B1A4 looking shocked and embarrassed; the members kept their hands in front of them after being violated.
The disturbing part of the video is that everyone was either laughing or cheering. Lee, in particular was seen pumping her fists in the air, mouthing the words that “she got to touch them all.”
The enraged fans who saw the uploaded video on Facebook, demanded Lee to be taken off the show as a way of punishment for sexual harassment.
One fan messaged SNL Korea’s Facebook page and asked if the female staffs groping the male genitals the norm or a part of the greeting when guests are featured in their show.
Whoever is managing the SNL Korea Facebook page, jokingly replied, “It wasn’t really touching. Hahaha.”
After the fan tried to reason with him that the situation is not a laughing matter, the page manager apologized and said they’ve taken the video down.
Seyoung Lee is a rookie comedian, who has recently been a rising talent in the comedy world through SNL Korea. Lee first got her slight taste of fame when she was featured on K-Drama, Reply 1988 (2015), as a small supporting act.
Lee made a handwritten apology to show how extremely sorry she was after the incident, but this did not in any way die down the anger of the fans; most of them still wanted her kicked off the show and face legal fine.
The short hand written note was much less than 10 lines, the content was mostly about admitting to her wrongdoing and that she wanted to apologize to each individual who was affected.
But does this imply that she admits to sexually assaulting these males and now apologizing for it?
To make matters worse, this was not Lee’s first attempt to commit something like this but it seems she’s developing it into some kind of habit. All-male K-pop groups, Infinite and Block B were also on SNL Korea in the past and they are said to have experienced similar treatment from Lee. Their fans are currently demanding an apology as well. The proof is recorded on videos, so people can see for themselves and judge.
As of today, December 1st 2016, Lee will no longer be appearing on SNL Korea, since she was ordered to take some time off to contemplate on her misbehavior, harassment or whatever you’d prefer to call it.
The story does not end here.
Lee is currently to be investigated by the police for sexual assault; since several people took action to report her on Kukmin Ilbo Newspaper. The press released a statement that Lee will be investigated by the Women and Juvenile Division, which could lead to criminal charges.
Here is a compilation video of the three groups who are said to have been sexually harassed by Lee. Please judge for yourselves if this is sexual harassment that needs legal action and let us know your opinion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ick-qPm3fBI
*INFINITE BLOCK B & B1A4 being Molested Backstage at SNL Korea
-J. Chung.
2 Comments
She asked for it.
A joke gone too far.