News Busters agency releases statement about EBS incident (1 Viewer)

[Abeamus]

"During a live broadcast, Busters’s Chaeyeon appeared to be hit by a fellow cast member as well as verbally harassed by another.

As a result, EBS removed the comedians from “Tok! Tok! Boni Hani.”

On December 11, Busters’s agency released the following statement:

"Hello, this is Marbling.
This is in regards to the problematic live video of “Tok! Tok! Boni Hani.”
After checking with Chaeyeon, she confirmed, “It was a joke. There was a misunderstanding because the whole situation wasn’t shown. None of the cast hit me.” She was very taken aback about the situation.
As stated in the statement released by “Tok! Tok! Boni Hani,” Chaeyeon appeared on the program for a long time, and the incident occurred because she was close to the cast. The joke crossed the line.
However, the agency recognizes the severity of the actions (threatening behavior, etc.) and received a promise from the program that this will never happen again.
We would like to apologize to fans. The agency will always pay close attention and work harder to protect our artists."

On the same day, a media outlet reported that comedian Choi Young Soo expressed his innocence through an interview. He said, “I didn’t hit Chaeyeon. She is like a niece and younger sister to me. Why would I assault her? It doesn’t make sense. It’s driving me nuts.”

He added, “I’ve been on ‘Tok! Tok! Boni Hani’ for 13 years. I’ve been on ‘Tok! Tok! Boni Hani’ longer than I’ve been on the comedy program ‘People Looking for a Laugh.’ I’ve worked with them for so long and are still close with the past cast members. I don’t have an agency. I was just an EBS comedian. But EBS ended our relationship.”

Choi Young Soo emphasized, “If you watch it without suspicion, it was really just a skit.” He claimed that he had nothing to explain because he didn’t hit her. He said, “I’m so frustrated. The shot was covered by Joo Chul hyung at an angle that made it look weird. I just grabbed her shoulder and pushed her. It sounded like I hit her, but that was probably another sound that was captured during the broadcast. It was a skit where Chaeyeon held on to me, I pushed her away, and she stared at me. Viewers, who watch the show and are used to the skits, won’t be suspicious of it. I don’t know why I have to leave the show because of the misunderstandings and accusations made by people who don’t even watch the show.”

He continued, “People are really scary. I don’t know if I can work in the industry because I’m scared. Maybe EBS is being targeted because of Pengsoo’s growing popularity. I wonder why the world is doing this to someone who has been quietly working on ‘Tok! Tok! Boni Hani.’ I would have accepted it if I actually did commit a crime, like drunk driving or gambling, but I didn’t. I was honestly more worried for Chaeyeon. I’m sure Chaeyeon was more hurt by this. As for me, I can just quit and go back to my hometown. Today Chaeyeon cried so much and told me, ‘I’m so sorry you have to leave because of me.’ I just patted her on the back and accepted my fate.”

Choi Young Soo expressed his disappointment and said, “How could this get so serious? I can’t believe it. This isn’t fair. It was decided that I be removed from the show because of the ongoing comments, petition, and Korea Communications Commission’s involvement. I was originally suppose to film today. I received the notice while I was preparing for the show today. They just said goodbye. Everyone involved with ‘Tok! Tok! Boni Hani’ are crying. They have nothing to say. I have nothing to say. They should have at least given me a chance to explain myself. They should have given me the opportunity to apologize for my actions that caused misunderstandings through the show or an official live broadcast.”

After expressing his innocence and regret, Choi Young Soo apologized to viewers. He stated, “I am someone who has been on the air for 17 years. This happened because of me, so it is my fault. It hurts to think that I caused trouble for ‘Tok! Tok! Boni Hani’ because of my actions. I would like to at least apologize like this. I don’t drink alcohol and only went back and forth from EBS to home. I am not a bad person. I did not hit Chaeyeon. Please don’t misunderstand.”"

Source​

 

[perhapz]

Smh, enough with the excuses, no joke sounds like that clear and loud punch sound.

 

[RandAlThor]

Smh, enough with the excuses, no joke sounds like that clear and loud punch sound.

I am still not convinced but its a done deal. 2 decade career gone. Lower budget show probably only had the one camera filming.

As i said before in a vacuum it did look bad, part of the price of the physical humor common to Asia's tv.
How many time do kids freak out over the toy hammer thing.
and kids shows are especially violent because its funny to them. see road runner, tom and Jerry, tweety bird ect.

Reminds me of watching TV O or show de XUXA many moons ago thinking we would never get that in the US its just a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Too bad to cuz they looked like super fun kids shows. Specifically i remember a human bowling with a kid on a huge rope that would have been fun.

 

[perhapz]

I am still not convinced but its a done deal. 2 decade career gone. Lower budget show probably only had the one camera filming.

As i said before in a vacuum it did look bad, part of the price of the physical humor common to Asia's tv.
How many time do kids freak out over the toy hammer thing.
and kids shows are especially violent because its funny to them. see road runner, tom and Jerry, tweety bird ect.

Reminds me of watching TV O or show de XUXA many moons ago thinking we would never get that in the US its just a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Too bad to cuz they looked like super fun kids shows. Specifically i remember a human bowling with a kid on a huge rope that would have been fun.

I don't have a problem with physical humor (when it's not too much), but this clearly wasn't a joke.
If it was, in your eyes, then we'll never agree in this one ig.

The hammer thing is fine because it doesn't hurt and everybody knows it, it's a toy meant to make more noise than to hurt.
The examples you mentioned are cartoons, not real life people punching and hurting each other. Now, a punch full strenght like this one? Wth.
What are you trying to teach the kids, that punching young girls is fine and funny?
But yeah, sure it wasn't a punch, it was some random "sound effects" from the studio.

 

[Yoohyeon]

I don't buy it and I believe that the company made Chaeyeon say it or along those lines.
She was obviously hurt after the incident had happened and the insults which the other guy dished out to her wasn't just 'playing' either.
They really are trying to make them look not as bad as it was.
Chaeyeon doesn't really have much say in the matter and still has to follow orders.

 

[RandAlThor]

I don't have a problem with physical humor (when it's not too much), but this clearly wasn't a joke.
If it was, in your eyes, then we'll never agree in this one ig.

The hammer thing is fine because it doesn't hurt and everybody knows it, it's a toy meant to make more noise than to hurt.
The examples you mentioned are cartoons, not real life people punching and hurting each other. Now, a punch full strenght like this one? Wth.
What are you trying to teach the kids, that punching young girls is fine and funny?
But yeah, sure it wasn't a punch, it was some random "sound effects" from the studio.

I am not arguing if the dude hit her then he deserves all this.
Nor do I think hitting kids is ok.

Yet we have this quote
"Hello, this is Marbling.
This is in regards to the problematic live video of “Tok! Tok! Boni Hani.”
After checking with Chaeyeon, she confirmed, “It was a joke. There was a misunderstanding because the whole situation wasn’t shown. None of the cast hit me.” She was very taken aback about the situation.

While its true kids are not always the best advocates for them selves yet she is at an age where she is legally empowered to make an awful lot of life decisions on her own. I Would like to be able to trust her if she said she was not hit. As far as i know this is not a systemic abuse case where people do in fact cover for those abusing them.

At the end of the day this is the right side of the error to come down on for most of the reasons you stated.
Its just that so far every single person who was there has said no punch occurred and it was a planed skit.

I also am not overly happy with how joyful folks are that they got him fired given the angle ect. For example as hard as it looked like he was swinging she would have rotated her body much more after the contact.

Now the other dude who called her names that is way out of bounds to me, but shoot folks now days swear like sailors all the time.
I read trans of YJS and the other top guys who say some pretty awful things that get cleaned up by the subbers.

 

[DrowningFishy]

I don't have a problem with physical humor (when it's not too much), but this clearly wasn't a joke.
If it was, in your eyes, then we'll never agree in this one ig.

The hammer thing is fine because it doesn't hurt and everybody knows it, it's a toy meant to make more noise than to hurt.
The examples you mentioned are cartoons, not real life people punching and hurting each other. Now, a punch full strenght like this one? Wth.
What are you trying to teach the kids, that punching young girls is fine and funny?
But yeah, sure it wasn't a punch, it was some random "sound effects" from the studio.

Actually the hammer thing CAN cause damage. You know that funny feeling that people are dazed after. That's signs of a concussion. So yeah there is potential for injury especially now they make it a game ti strike as hard as you can. In all honesty any impact with the head can cause brain injury. Even finger flicks.... ... Yeah I know I'm a kill joy.

And punching girls is not fine or funny. And that clearly sounded like a punch or could be mistaken as one. As most people playing around there should hav ebeen a reacting moment that signified playing around.

 

[blueberries]

hmmh. i mean ofc if he really didn't punch her at all i feel sorry for him for it being huge misunderstanding. Losing a job is huge deal. But.. the clip rly does look like it happened. That and the clip of other guy insulting her. All of them could be just trying to bury it.

 

[SeulPika]

An absolute bullshit statement.

The video doesn't lie. His body language and facial expression doesn't lie. Chaeyeon's body language and facial expression doesn't lie.

That poor girl was verbally and physically assaulted by those two pieces of shit, who imo deserve a prison sentence for abuse of a minor.

 

[Abeamus]

hmmh. i mean ofc if he really didn't punch her at all i feel sorry for him for it being huge misunderstanding. Losing a job is huge deal. But.. the clip rly does look like it happened. That and the clip of other guy insulting her. All of them could be just trying to bury it.

That's the part that gets me, the comments under any context are bad and with the water in Jinsols eyes the punch looks bad.

Under the circumstances that all of these actually are skits then these skits are pretty tasteless and hard to believe someone sane finds this funny.

 

[Drew_B]

I just feel bad for Chaeyeon cause now she will always be known in Korea as "the girl who got that guy fired". And she did absolutely nothing wrong.

 

[Poetry]

I hate watching people hit each other on the head with those toy hammers.

 

[Yoohyeon]

That's the part that gets me, the comments under any context are bad and with the water in Jinsols eyes the punch looks bad.

Under the circumstances that all of these actually are skits then these skits are pretty tasteless and hard to believe someone sane finds this funny.

Yeah, the water in Jinsols eyes means that the whole incident with Chaeyeon makes it look like they wanted to humiliate her and also means that they have most likely humiliated people in the past and if they hadn't lost their job, humiliate people in the future too.
It's not funny and these are kids they are doing it to on a kid's show.

 

[Abeamus]

Yeah, the water in Jinsols eyes means that the whole incident with Chaeyeon makes it look like they wanted to humiliate her and also means that they have most likely humiliated people in the past and if they hadn't lost their job, humiliate people in the future too.
It's not funny and these are kids they are doing it to on a kid's show.

This being a kids show makes it worse as I wouldn't be okay watching it myself let alone my kid watching it.

 

[eclipsoul]

no matter if it was a joke or not, it was still terrible and i doubt anyone would consider this funny, the fact that it's a show meant for children only makes things worse. i don't know what to think about the company's statement, it's likely that chaeyeon had no say in this situation.

 

[Yoohyeon]

This being a kids show makes it worse as I wouldn't be okay watching it myself let alone my kid watching it.

Exactly! What kids are seeing is child abuse and kids usually pick up on these things.
Also the fact that grown men did this to a young girl means that there may be some kids who think that assaulting and insulting the opposite sex is ok, particularly girls recieving abuse.
From the charities I do in mainly poor countries, I learn that young boys physically and mentally abuse young girls because they don't have the education to say that it's wrong to abuse anyone.
I know S.Korea isn't a poor country, but by exposing kids game shows like this where the victim gets humiliated, they are teaching young minds that it is ok which it is not.

no matter if it was a joke or not, it was still terrible and i doubt anyone would consider this funny, the fact that it's a show meant for children only makes things worse. i don't know what to think about the company's statement, it's likely that chaeyeon had no say in this situation.

Yes, it's more likely she was pressured into saying the stuff she did in the companies statement and I also wouldn't be surprised if she's the one punished by her company for this whole situation.
Don't forget, she's under contract, doesn't really have much freedom in what she can say and anything that would make the company or colleagues look bad, they would probably dish out punishment on her.

 

[Abeamus]

Exactly! What kids are seeing is child abuse and kids usually pick up on these things.
Also the fact that grown men did this to a young girl means that there may be some kids who think that assaulting and insulting the opposite sex is ok, particularly girls recieving abuse.
From the charities I do in mainly poor countries, I learn that young boys physically and mentally abuse young girls because they don't have the education to say that it's wrong to abuse anyone.
I know S.Korea isn't a poor country, but by exposing kids game shows like this where the victim gets humiliated, they are teaching young minds that it is ok which it is not.


Yes, it's more likely she was pressured into saying the stuff she did in the companies statement and I also wouldn't be surprised if she's the one punished by her company for this whole situation.
Don't forget, she's under contract, doesn't really have much freedom in what she can say and anything that would make the company or colleagues look bad, they would probably dish out punishment on her.

Even not going into the psychological implications of it, if a kid sees the skit done to Jinsol then they could replicate that and if they did use a coin like it seemed the skit implied then they could do serious damage to another person.

 

[Yoohyeon]

Even not going into the psychological implications of it, if a kid sees the skit done to Jinsol then they could replicate that and if they did use a coin like it seemed the skit implied then they could do serious damage to another person.

Yeah, Jinsol looked like she was hurt as she was holding her face for the entire clip while the men were laughing.

 

[LoveYooShaSha]

Another possible reason she says she wasn't hit is that her agency seems to be depending on the income from her appearing on this show to the extent that ChaeYeon misses her schedule or rushes back from her schedule to appear on this show. It's sad how Busters n the agency are struggling now. Hope that things get better for them.

I've read a few other website sites take on this n I think tat firing the two was the absolute right thing, even tho it was the minimum that the broadcast company did without admitting any hitting or insulting ChaeYeon happened.

Sadness all around for wat happened to Chaeyeon. She deserved to be treated with more respect from those two guys.

 

[blueberries]

Another possible reason she says she wasn't hit is that her agency seems to be depending on the income from her appearing on this show to the extent that ChaeYeon misses her schedule or rushes back from her schedule to appear on this show. It's sad how Busters n the agency are struggling now. Hope that things get better for them.

I've read a few other website sites take on this n I think tat firing the two was the absolute right thing, even tho it was the minimum that the broadcast company did without admitting any hitting or insulting ChaeYeon happened.

Sadness all around for wat happened to Chaeyeon. She deserved to be treated with more respect from those two guys.

Yes, it's just that we can't take company's statement as granted. What they make idols say isn't always true. There is many times in kpop when victim has come forth and apologised for causing trouble, even blaming themselves, cause their company doesn't want controversy.