Comedian Lee Se-young stopped broadcasting due to her appearance or the harrassment controversies that caused her to endure malicious comments?
“As a comedian, I thought I had to put up with it but it hurt me even more. I got scared of making jokes. It’s already been 2 years since I stopped my activities”, Lee Se-young said.
In November 2020, Lee Se-young revealed that she suspended her broadcast activities because of “malicious comments”. Appearing on a show for the first time in a while that day, the comedian explained that her decisions to stop performing comedies, go on a diet, put on makeups, and even undergo plastic surgery were all due to malicious comments.
In fact, Lee Se-young’s broadcasting activities were restricted not because of her appearance. It began in 2017 when she was embroiled in sexual harassment controversies. During a broadcast of SNL Korea, she touched the sensitive part on the body of a member of the male idol group B1A4, who was invited as a host. The members looked very embarrassed. Fans who saw the video accused Lee Se-young of sexual harassment and even reported the case to the police.
The police then announced that they had not found any evidence to prove Lee Se-young’s sexual harassment behavior and sent the case to the prosecution with a dismissal. The victims also stated that there was no physical interaction between them and they didn’t feel uncomfortable. Lee Se-young also apologized, “I’m sincerely sorry”, but the public’s anger didn’t cool down.
Furthermore, it is known that Lee Se-young did the same thing to INFINITE and Block B in the past. Appearing on a broadcast of JTBC’s “Talk Busking” in 2016, Lee Se-young revealed that she was a fan of the boy group Shinhwa and she used to write bromance stories of the couple Lee Min-woo – Shin Hye-sung. On the same day, the comedian sparked controversy by saying, “I’m Joanne Rowling of the world of sexual novels world”.
Lee Se-young had no choice but to reflect on herself. As controversies intensified, she also gave up her award at the 24th Korea Culture and Entertainment Awards. In addition, she voluntarily dropped out of “Comedy Big League” and “SNL Korea 8”, the shows that she was participating in at that time. KBS2’s “Sing Fight” was even criticized as they didn’t cut Lee Se-young’s scenes out of their broadcast.
After that, Lee Se-young did try to make a comeback through “SNL Korea Season 9”. However, after the sexual harassment controversy, she did not make any outstanding performance. Eventually, Lee Se-young withdrew from broadcasting and debuted as a Youtuber with a completely different appearance. She shocked everyone by revealing that she took double eyelid and nose surgeries on Youtube.
Lee Se-young explained that the change in appearance was “because of malicious comments”. On SBS Plus’ entertainment program “You Can Tell My Sister”, which aired on November 26th 2021, she said that she decided to undergo plastic surgery after suffering severe trauma due to malicious comments related to her appearance.
It is a pity that Lee Se-young, who was seriously hurt by malicious commenters, seems to have forgotten about her past mistakes. The reason why she had no choice but to disappear from the broadcasting industry was largely due to the controversy over sexual harassment prior to “malicious comments”. At that time, she only left a few vague lines of apology for this. Although the parties said it was okay, her behavior itself as if she were molesting other people’s genitals cannot be justified.
Lee Se-young debuted as a VJ in 2009 through “Mnet Wide Entertainment News”. Afterwards, she worked as a comedian from MBN’s first and last public recruitment in 2012. She gained even more fame by performing a skit on “SNL Korea”. The public loved her charismatic looks and comedian appearance.
She brought a lot of laughter to the public with her resemblance to Yoo Hae-jin, Ryu Seung-bum and Park Myung-soo. Being able to portray a specific person in various ways is a comedian’s talent. With her unique appearance, Lee Se-young showed her talent by imitating celebrities, broadcasters as well as politicians. She shined her unrivaled presence among female comedians.
Is it really because of her appearance that Lee Se-young stopped broadcasting? Recently, Lee Se-young, who has been frantic about taking care of her appearance, even seems to praise plastic surgery by revealing all of her shocking plastic surgery procedures. Appearance is said to be self-satisfaction, but many people feel sorry for her, who is getting more and more beautiful.
