Lee Yi Kyung Raises Eyebrows After Omitting Yoo Jae Suk’s Name From Acceptance Speech
Actor Lee Yi Kyung has drawn attention for his acceptance speech at the 2025 Asia Artist Awards, specifically for not mentioning Yoo Jae Suk’s name.
On November 6, KST, Lee attended the 2025 Asia Artist Awards at the National Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where he received the AAA Best Choice Award.
As Lee took the mic, he began his speech by expressing his gratitude for the platform that would allow him to share his voice at the end of 2025. He thanked his agency’s CEO and directly addressed the allegations made against him, stating that “the person responsible has been emailing my agency with apologies and requests for leniency. We’re going to track them down, no matter what.”
Lee then joked, “Is ‘SNL Korea’ watching? I’m taking Thursdays off now,” hinting at his departure from Hangout With Yoo. He then gave a shoutout to Haha and Woojae, his castmates from the show, saying he missed them. The omission of Yoo Jae Suk during this part of his speech didn’t go unnoticed by the public.
The actor’s acceptance speech has now sparked speculation about a possible rift between him and Yoo, following his controversial departure from Hangout With Yoo. After an anonymous netizen accused Lee of several inappropriate things, including sexually aggressive behavior over text messages, Lee had to leave Hangout With Yoo without a proper farewell. Although it was initially reported that the departure was due to scheduling conflicts, the actor later came forward, expressing his frustration over being practically forced to leave by the production team.
The show’s production team later admitted and apologized for their handling of the situation. It led to audiences not only criticizing the producers but also Yoo Jae Suk, asking why he didn’t defend his junior artist, even though the accuser had retracted their initial allegations by then. In response, Yoo’s agency, Antenna, announced on December 5 that it was planning to take strict action against malicious posts and false rumors attacking the artist, warning netizens of legal consequences if unverified claims about him are spread online.
