#MeToo Movement: Korean Actor Lee Seo Won Fired From Upcoming K-Drama Following Allegations Of Sexual Harassment
Korean actor Lee Seo Won will no longer play a role in the upcoming K-drama About Time. The star has been fired from the show after an allegation of sexual assault has been raised against him and has been charged for it.
The producers of About Time have confirmed that they are replacing Lee who has been under investigation for sexually assaulting and threatening a female colleague. Lee threatened the woman with a weapon when she rejected his advances.
"Lee Seo Won was playing the role of the director in charge of the musical featuring the female lead. He was a supporting role with not much screen time. However, we cannot delete the scenes entirely as it plays a part in the story. We plan to replace him and re-film the scenes," the tvN's drama producers said (via AllKPop).
The show began filming earlier this year, and Lee had shot his scenes. The producers said they would be re-filming the scenes with Lee but assured that the broadcast schedule of About Time would not be affected by the re-filming. The drama scheduled to premiere on May 21 at 9:30 p.m. KST.
A few days ago, About Time released some teaser posters and it includes Lee Seo Won as Jo Jae Yoo. He was supposed to play the role of a genius musical director who falls in love unexpectedly that even he can't believe it.
About Time stars Lee Sung Kyung and Lee Sang Yoon in the lead roles. The new K-drama follows the lives of Choi Michaela (Lee Sung Kyung) who can see the countdown to the end of people's lives and Lee Do Ha (Lee Sang Yoon), a mysterious man who can stop the countdown.
Meanwhile, Lee Seo Won's agency, Blossom Entertainment, also issued an apology, saying they have talked to the actor to learn the truth about the allegation against him. The agency said Lee acknowledged his mistake and sincerely regrets his actions that caused concern to many people. Blossom Entertainment also assured that they would cooperate in the ongoing investigation on Lee.
The alleged incident happened when Lee had a drink with his accuser who is a female celebrity. The actor supposedly tried to kiss her, but she rejected his advances. He continued to make attempts which prompted the female star to call her boyfriend and ask for help. This makes Lee angry and threatened her with a weapon.
Reports indicate that Lee was also drunk when the police questioned him. He even allegedly swore at a police officer.
Lee is also currently the MC on the KBS music show Music Bank. The show has stated that they are also deliberating Lee's fate in the show following the accusation of sexual assault and they will issue a statement soon. Lee Seo Won also previously appeared in several K-dramas including Uncontrollably Fond, Hospital Ship, and The Liar and His Lover.
