Production on tvN’s highly anticipated drama The Tyrant’s Chef (literal title) has hit a major roadblock following a social media controversy involving its male lead Park Sung Hoon.
The drama’s scheduled table read and camera test on January 2nd were abruptly canceled amid growing backlash over Park’s recent social media incident. The series, helmed by hitmaker Jang Tae Yoo of My Love From the Star and Knight Flower, was set to pair red-hot Park Sung Hoon with K-pop sensation Girls’ Generation’s YoonA in a time-slip narrative about a top chef who travels back in time to encounter a tyrannical yet gastronome king.
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However, BH Entertainment has later clarified the situation to TV Daily: “The cancellation of the table read for tvN’s new drama ‘The Tyrant’s Chef’ was not due to the recent controversy, but rather due to schedule changes during the national mourning period. We are taken aback by such reports coming out amid this situation.”
The controversy erupted when Park, who followed his acclaimed villainous turn in Netflix’s The Glory with a buzzy role as transgender contestant Jo Hyun Ju in Squid Game 2, accidentally posted explicit adult content on his Instagram account, which boasts nearly 2 million followers. The image in question, featuring adult film performers in Squid Game-inspired costumes, was removed within a minute but had already spread among his substantial following.
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BH Entertainment, Park’s agency, initially claimed: “Park Sung Hoon receives numerous DMs, and he accidentally hit share while checking them. He was very shocked by the incident himself. We acknowledge the mistake and apologize.”
However, the agency revised their statement the following day, admitting, “Park received (the set content) via DM and, determining it problematic, attempted to forward it to company personnel. After saving the image, he was supposed to send it to the manager and delete it immediately, but it was accidentally uploaded instead.”
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