Actor Lee Ji-hoon's suspicions of power abuse are on the rise.
Following the allegation that Lee Ji-hoon used force against the staff on the set of the drama 'Sponsor', there were also claims that he made the writer get fired without permission.
Writer Park Gye-hyeong, who wrote the title 'Desire' before the change of IHQ's opening drama 'Sponsor', said in an interview with a media on November 4th, "Lee Ji-hoon complained to the production company that he is the main character, but he had a small proportion, and the writer and cinematographer , and half of the staff, including the lighting director, have been replaced."
“The role played by Lee Ji Hoon is someone who secretly gets to the bottom of things for his revenge. So he doesn’t appear as much in the first few episodes. But Lee Ji Hoon said he’d quit (because of the small screen time). And the head of the production company fired me out of the blue,” Park shared.
“I finished writing scripts up to episode 8, but they started changing my writing with another writer from episodes 3 and 4. I’ve worked on it with the director for more than a year,” he added. “Since then, I was so upset that I couldn’t sleep. I even got a prescription for sleeping pills. They stole my work, and there’s nothing I can do about it, and that really hurts my pride.”
Writer Park Gye-hyeong, who wrote the drama 'Desire', which was scheduled to be released as the opening drama of Channel IHQ, revealed the power of actor Lee Ji-hoon. It is said that he complained about his quantity several times through the production company, and as a result, half of the staff, including himself, were replaced.
Writer Park, who wrote 'Desire' as his next work after KBS' 'Move aside, Destiny', which aired in 2018, said, "It was so unfair that I couldn't sleep and was prescribed sleeping pills. It was an impossible situation, so it was hard and my pride hurt a lot."
Regarding Park’s claims, iHQ responded, “We have requested him to change some parts, but it was per the production company’s opinion, not the actor’s. Lee Ji Hoon never mentioned the screen time.”
“Rather, we’d like to ask if he thinks replacing half of the staff and the writer due to the actor’s power trip is really possible,” the network stated. “I hope he refrains from jumping to the conclusion that one actor has caused all this. We are sorry, but we hope there are no more misunderstandings.”
Previously, the 'Sponsor' staff claimed that Lee Ji-hoon was late to the filming site and brought an acquaintance to the filming site to create an uncomfortable atmosphere, and claimed that he responded inappropriately, such as pushing or threatening some of the staff. The staff protested that Lee Ji-hoon also said 'Stop it' instead of stopping his acquaintance, and Lee Ji-hoon made an official apology.
Meanwhile, Sponsor is iHQ’s new Monday-Tuesday drama about four men and women who go out to find a sponsor who will satisfy their desires. It will premiere on the 29th at 10:30 PM KST.
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