“Knowing Bros” cast criticized for telling the victim to “control her fear” in dangerous situation?
“That’s a very good attitude,” said Kim Hee-chul. “The boyfriend now has a justification too,” said Lee Soo-geun.
Singer Kim Hee-chul and comedian Lee Soo-geun‘s remarks on “Knowing Bros” during the story of dancer Honey J (Jeong Ha-ni) being attacked by an unidentified man in the past. Honey J appeared in the JTBC entertainment show “Knowing Bros” – “Street Woman Fighter” episode, which aired on Nov 20th, and confessed that she was attacked by an unidentified man in an alley in the past.
On this day, Honey J said, “I used to live in a residential area, once I took a taxi and got off near my house. As soon as I got off, I saw a man walking from the other side, and it felt strange. But suddenly, the man changed his direction and came to me,” she recalled. She then said, “I looked around and there was no one around. I felt like he was following me, but I thought what if I misunderstood him, which is why I went into the alley because I felt sorry,” she said, “Because I can’t catch just anyone.”
Then Kim Hee-chul raised his finger at Honey J and said, “That’s a very good attitude.” Immediately after the broadcast, netizens pointed out that Kim Hee-chul‘s attitude was inappropriate. Honey J thought from the standpoint of a man who might be a potential perpetrator, so Kim Hee-chul’s compliment can be understood that the potential victim should control even his/her fear. Many netizens debate that it promotes the wrong idea that even in the situation of survival, the victim should consider the other person’s feelings first, not his/her own safety.
Since then, the cast continued with more inappropriate remarks. Honey J recalled that she was attacked by the unidentified man and escaped the scene after fierce resistance. The moment she was watching the man pass by and put her bag on her back, the hand of the man hit her mouth and waist from behind. Surprised by this, Honey J escaped the situation with all his might, and the unidentified man was running away with her bag. The dancer took her bag back with all of her energy and burst into tears. The other dancers, who were listening to this, could not hide their surprise and felt sorry for Honey J. Aiki and Lee Jung covered their mouths with both hands and showed great concern, but some cast didn’t feel the same.
After the incident, her boyfriend, who was worried about Honey J, said he would take her home every day. While talking about an unidentified attack, Lee Soo-geun joked about the boyfriend wanting to take his girlfriend home. Netizens point out that it was inappropriate to joke in that situation, regardless of the program being a variety show.
In addition, Honey J said she was surprised to know that at that time, the police laughed together while watching the CCTV footage of the desperate situation when she was facing the criminal. While the “Street Woman Fighter” dancers got frustrated hearing the story, some “Knowing Bros” members laughed slightly.
Viewers criticized the production team for directing this as a funny scene. Even considering it was in an entertainment show, they must have taken Honey J’s story, which was almost considered a big crime, more seriously. The production team also received harsh criticisms for their lack of concerns when simply wrapping up the scene with laughter without considering the social situation in which violent crimes against women have been increasing recently. Therefore, many people also responded, assuming the directing instructions for this entertainment show were hard to understand.
In particular, it is pointed out that the production team lacked considerations when deciding to air Kim Hee-chul and Lee Soo-geun’s comments without editing and even emphasized their remarks with additional subtitles. On the other hand, others believed that people should refrain from giving excessive criticisms. They believed there was nothing wrong, given that Honey J’s was just one of the episodes that happened in the past.
Meanwhile, “Knowing Bros” recently changed their broadcasting time twice due to low ratings. After switching to 7:40 P.M for the first time with the broadcast on September 4th, the show’s broadcasting time was once again delayed by an hour to 8:40 P.M, starting with the episode on November 20th.
