Actor Yoo Ah In has been pretty much banished from the Korean entertainment industry owing to his drug abuse scandals in the past year.
The actor was eventually arrested and put on trial after being accused of administering medical narcotics — including propofol, midazolam, ketamine, and remimazolam — a staggering 181 times under the pretense of anesthesia for cosmetic procedures. While the trial is still underway, the once-revered actor has lost most of his public appeal in South Korea. The backlash against him has resulted in him being dropped or scrubbed off from any new project he was a part of.
Netflix’s upcoming K-Drama Goodbye Earth is one of the projects that Yoo Ah In filmed before his scandal broke out. It was originally scheduled to be released last year but got pushed back when Yoo was put on trial. It is now slated to premiere on April 26, KST, but with most of the lead actor’s appearance cut off.
On April 19, KST, the show’s director, Kim Jin Min, told the media that scrubbing off Yoo’s character completely from the story was difficult because he played a major part in the plot. His scenes, however, have been edited out heavily to reduce “viewer discomfort.”
When the news about Yoo broke, I was in the middle of editing the third episode. Coincidentally, it was a time when I thought I wanted to edit the story all over again after understanding new, important parts in the later episodes. So, I edited it as a whole.
— Kim Jin Min
With Yoo out of focus, the story will now center around Ahn Eun Jin’s character, a school teacher who tries to save people stranded on the Korean peninsula with only 200 days left before an asteroid hits the earth.
The news, however, has not been received kindly by international K-Drama fans, who felt that Yoo Ah In was being treated in a disproportionately harsh manner compared to his crime. Some even mentioned other actors accused of much graver crimes who continue to work in the industry today.
Lee Jin-wook who r@ped his friend and send her to the prison is getting work left right center
No one is editing him out of sweethome but yes we all should edit out an opioid epidemic viticm
Knowing fully well that big pharmaceutical companies are responsible for this crisis. https://t.co/ed90KRpXA1— Iris 🍉 (@IrisBarryAllen) April 21, 2024
now if he was an abuser or r@pist, he would still have a career. SK and it’s system/laws are a fxcking joke. https://t.co/mh3o40IjlY pic.twitter.com/0cTuJwtSlC
— anne.🇵🇸 (@seoulofmischief) April 21, 2024
the fact that they would rather have charged r@pists and abusers active and running in the industry than the guy who took drugs to make himself sleep is so crazy to me https://t.co/s4Zy6SBdiH
— jay (@tensorfied_) April 21, 2024
now do the same with all of the abusers and musty grandpas in squid game 2 🤡 https://t.co/e86pXglGGT
— sway☆ (@hajoonist_) April 20, 2024
the funny thing about k-ent is that their cancel culture is so selective like those with SA allegations still have a career while YAI was someone who needed help more thsn anything imo https://t.co/rSs3QTKNIh
— han (@langyabangs) April 21, 2024
meanwhile squid game’s entire male cast is abusers and scum https://t.co/AF4ReL0qfv
— ju⁷ (@smokesprit) April 20, 2024
Many also felt that persecuting Yoo Ah In in this manner is counter-productive, noting that the actor was not a heinous criminal but rather a victim of South Korea’s ongoing opioid crisis.
Yoo ah in is one of the best actors in the country and he’s getting lambasted and blacklisted coz he got addicted to his pain meds instead of getting him the help he needs. What a joke. https://t.co/QeEWn4Thdg
— 📺 (@itboypercy) April 20, 2024
His addiction was so bad he was using propofol, that man needed rehab and time to heal not jail time and being cancelled by SK while actual criminals and weirdos are still bagging gigs https://t.co/SKt9AltB5s
— emzee 🏃🏻♀️ (@00enthusiast) April 21, 2024
Dare I say that besides him being an opioid epidemic victim, this has been a planned sabotage/takedown of his career cause of his sexuality. Openly navigating that has rubbed people in the industry the wrong way. The stakes were too high for them – allegedly! https://t.co/qIDZ7lnX7f
— Λ L E X (@alexanderbihn) April 21, 2024
Let’s get this straight he’s crucial to the story but you reduced his screentime cause folks are in a twist cause the man has an addiction to painkillers, it’s hardly a heinous crime, instead of getting him help you & your cancel culture is part of the problem it’s a disgrace https://t.co/MWd9LNwMkR
— Dani💋@InASubBubble (@InASubBubble) April 20, 2024
What are your thoughts on this?
Source: Straits Times (1) and (2)
