Korean drama Homemade Love Story has landed in sexual harassment controversy as the audience expressed inconvenience with the airing of the fourth episode and stated "it's not right." A scene in the drama showing the naked body of an actor along with the trumpet sound has landed the drama in controversy.
The drama starring Jin Ki Joo, Lee Jang Woo and WJSN's Bona in the lead role aired its contentious fourth episode on September 27. In the episode, Jin Ki Joo mistakes Lee Jang Woo for a pervert and hits him on the head. When Lee falls on Jin, his naked body was shown along with the sound of trumpet that made the audience cringe.
Homemade Love Story to Release Statement
According to a report in Herald POP, following comments by netizens on social media regarding the scene, an official from the Homemade Love Story is said to have stated that the team will release a statement in this regard soon.
Netizens also questioned that if the girl was shown naked this would have become a huge issue, why it isn't an issue when a man is in question. "If a woman was portraying this scene, it wouldn't just end with criticism. There would be greater commotion", stated one of the comments. Netizens demanded that the scene should be edited. But despite the controversy, the Naver TV has uploaded the episode with the contentious scene on its digital platform.
Drama Opens to High Rating
Homemade Love Story revolves around three families living at a boarding house named Samgwang Villa. Sun Jeong's family is a lower middle class family and the members live a simple life but happy life. Jung Hoo's family is rich but lacks peace of mind. Jung Won's family looks perfect only from the outside. These three families are joined by others who add to the happiness as well as woes of these family members. The story is about the value of family where members open their hearts to one another and live as one large family.
The first episode of the drama was premiered on September 19 succeeding Once Again. The premier recorded nationwide ratings of 19.9 percent and 23.3 percent for its two parts and was dubbed as the most watched drama on that day. It surpassed its predecessor Once Again in terms of premier ratings. The drama saw an increase in the ratings for its second episode that scored average nationwide ratings of 22.2 percent and 24.9 percent for its two parts.
The drama is being aired on KBS2 on Saturdays and Sundays at 7.55 p.m. KST. It will soon be available on free website Viki Rakuten and netizens are hopeful that the scene that made audience uncomfortable will be edited before the drama starts streaming on Viki. Earlier Korean dramas Backstreet Rookie starring Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung; It's Okay To Not Be Okay starring Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Ye Ji were also involved in sexual harassment complaints.
