Controversy on Actor Lee Tae Gon's Attitude Toward Yoo Jae Suk on "Running Man"

Recently, actor Lee Tae Gon (age 35) has been caught up in a controversy for his attitude on the latest episode of “Running Man.” However, one of the PDs for “Running Man”,” Jo Hyun Jin said that there was no problem at all.

Lee Tae Gon was a guest on the June 17 episode of “Running Man – The King’s Race.” He grouped up with Yoo Jae Suk and Haha to form a team. However, all throughout the broadcast, he poked, slapped and shoved Yoo Jae Suk. He also interrupted Yoo Jae Suk in the middle of his sentence and did other eye-raising things like pull strongly on Yoo Jae Suk’s clothes. Yoo Jae Suk jokingly muttered multiple times throughout the show, “My pride is so hurt, seriously.” Even Kim Jong Gook stated at one point, “Stop bothering my hyung.”

Viewers are bombarding Lee Tae Gon with criticism for his attitude on the show. This particular viewer left a comment on the forum saying, “I think Lee Tae Gon went too far.I know articles were released today saying that Lee Tae Gon and Yoo Jae Suk have always been close. Is he crazy? Is the broadcasted episode only viewed by friends and family? What kind of broadcast allows one to act however they want? Swearing and poking at each other are what friends do normally but is it the same for broadcast? I think Lee Tae Gon is the kind of celebrity who thinks he is so special.”

Other netizens did say, “It’s just entertainment TV,” and “He just did it for laughs and now you’re running at him with death.” However, comments left on the “Running Man” forum or Lee Tae Gon’s minihompy include, “You dare to touch Yoo Jae Suk?” “Lee Tae Gon, don’t do that,” “You’re so cocky,” “Please learn variety TV all over again,” “No matter how close you are, this is too much,” “I won’t ever watch anything with Lee Tae Gon in it,” and more.

However, sources are saying that the set during the actual recording was very lively and warm. Yoo Jae Suk’s sources especially tried to dismiss this issue. They said, “We didn’t even know about this. We don’t really know how close Yoo Jae Suk and Lee Tae Gon are in reality but things like this happen all the time during broadcast. We really hope everyone will think positively.”

As the controversy grew, Lee Tae Gon’s sources stated, “Since he was focusing on the games and since he is close with Yoo Jae Suk, he just acted comfortably. If Yoo Jae Suk didn’t feel good about this, we apologize. We will try our best for this not to happen again.”