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Former South Korean actor Heo Yi-jae has revealed the reason behind her surprise retirement. The Sunflower actor recently sat down with former Crayon Pop member Way on the latter's YouTube channel WayLand. She showed some disturbing revelations in a video titled "The reality of Korean actress listening from an actress (slapping, shameless actor...)."
Why did Heo Yi-jae retire?
Heo Yi-jae appeared in front of the camera after a long time. The actor had announced her retirement from showbiz back in 2016, having made her last appearance on the 2016 drama "You are a Gift." Heo Yi-jae did not renew her contract with YG Entertainment after it expired and did not offer any explanations until now.
In the video with Way, Yi-jae revealed that the uncalled-for attention from an actor made her leave the industry.
"I retired from the entertainment industry because of this married actor."
The actor, who began her career with the nickname "little Kim Tae Hee," explained that the person who made her retire was her co-star. Refusing to take names, Heo Yi-jae commented upon the change in the co-star's demeanor towards her.
"In one drama, that person and I were partners. At first, he was so nice to me in the beginning. He was nice to me at first, but one day, he suddenly asked...'Why don't you contact me on your days off?' But we met almost every day because of the filming." Heo Yi Jae continued to explain, "But that was when I was very innocent. So I answered, 'But we're meeting every day and we work 20 hours a day so we don't have time to contact each other.' Then, he didn't say anything but had a facial expression saying, 'Is she pretending not to know or does she really not know?'"
Heo Yi-jae also commented on the co-star's increasingly abusive behavior towards her, including him using expletives on set and blaming her for his poor performance.
Heo Yi-jae also shared that the co-star specified that he wasn't swearing at the director, but only at Heo Yi-jae, because she stressed him out. Yi-jae also quoted the director, saying,
'He's looking at you se*ually but you didn't. So I think he tried to force you by being scary.' So I replied to the director, 'That can't be true,' and I didn't believe the director."
It wasn't until Heo Yi-jae spoke to the co-actor herself that she realized his true intentions. With another shift in manner, the unnamed co-star allegedly told the actor that the audience watching the show does not believe that they're a real couple, and they can do only one thing to fix it. She said,
Do you know what you need to do to look like a real couple?' so I replied, 'I don't know.' He said to me, 'We need to sleep together. But you don't want to do that do you?' so I said no."
Upon hearing her refusal, though, the co-star once again became violent. Heo Yi-jae stated,
"Then he threw things at me and yelled 'So do well, you b***! I can't focus on acting because of you, you f**** b**** and cursed at me.
It was after this horrifying ordeal that Heo Yi-jae decided to leave the world of showbiz behind. The lack of support from her fellow actors and their indifference was another reason why she decided to retire.
Who was Heo Yi-jae's abusive co-star?
Although Heo Yi-jae did not explicitly name her bully, she did reveal that he is still acting and is also doing very well. She also gave the name to Way, off-camera, to which Way revealed that she used to like him as an actor.
Viewers of the video have speculated that the actor in question is Oh Ji-ho. DC Inside's male gallery has put out a statement on behalf of the actor, stating, among other things, that
"Oh Ji-ho’s fans will continue to track down the criminal activities of those who disseminate false facts to defame actor Oh Ji-ho and obliterate a man’s character with serious abusive and insulting remarks. We inform you that we will take all possible legal measures, including criminal prosecution and civil damages claim, without any leniency or tolerance.”
Heo Yi-jae had expected a severe backlash for the video. Still, she shared her gratitude for her fans through a pinned comment on the original video upon seeing the supportive comments.
The comment, translated into English, reads:
Hello, this is Heo Yi-jae...I read all the comments with fear, but reading it gave me healing..Thank you very much. Everyone, the event that led to my retirement for a long time was a traumatic experience for me. As I ate every day, I thought that if I could go back to that time, instead of just standing there crying, I would have the courage to face it. Please refrain from witch-hunting as it is not intended to sniper and attack. I really enjoyed doing YouTube through Way!! I will come back with various interesting, meaningless, absurd, fun, and useful content!!!
You can watch the rest of the video here. Apart from this, Heo Yi-jae also shared stories about her experience in the industry, and viewers also got an insight into the friendship between Way and Heo Yi-jae, who had first met on set. Heo Yi-jae also shared that she still loved acting but could not handle the industry's toxic political play and power play.
