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Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon is the latest celebrity to voice her outrage over the animal abuse controversy on the set of The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won, where a horse died after filming a dangerous sequence.
On November 2, while filming the sageuk drama, the makers tried to film a scene in which one of the characters fell from a horse. To create the effect, the horse was pulled to the ground via a rope tied around its legs. Clips of the filming sequence showed the horse in obvious misery, with several viewers raising allegations of animal abuse against The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won.
The horse's eventual death from injuries sustained during the shoot caused many viewers to raise concerns with the Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA) over potential animal abuse. Girls' Generation member Taeyeon is one of those people who spoke for animal rights.
Girls' Generation's Taeyeon condemned the production team of The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won
Taeyeon shared an image of the complaint that was sent to KAWA on her Instagram stories, writing an impassioned caption against animal abuse.
Taeyeon, who happens to be a vocal animal rights activist, said,
“The video was extremely painful to watch and brought tears to my eyes. It makes me angry. How can they film like that in this day and age.. It’s a horrifying thing for both the people and the animals. Was there someone who ran to check the horse’s state right away? Who on earth came up with this idea for this unbelievable method of filming?”
Apart from Taeyeon, actor Yoo Yeon-seok also spoke out against the production team of The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won stating that ensuring safety of animals should be of utmost importance, and precautions should not be taken only for the people involved.
KBS issued an apology
On January 21, KBS had issued an official apology to all viewers of the drama, stating
It is very difficult to film a fall from a horse. The horse’s safety is fundamental, and we also have to consider the safety of the actor on the horse and the safety of the crew members filming the scene. Because of this, the production staff spent several days preparing for the scene in order to prevent any accidents from potentially occurring.
Despite this preparation, during the actual filming, an accident occurred in which the actor was thrown hard from the horse and the horse’s upper body struck the ground with great force. After the accident, the horse got up under its own power, and we checked to see that it had no external injuries before returning it. However, as viewers recently began to express concern for the horse’s current condition, we checked the horse’s condition again, and we regret to say that the horse died about a week after the filming occurred.
Meanwhile, The King Of Tears, Lee Bang Won has been indefinitely suspended amidst the heavy backlash. The episode featuring the scene of the horse has also been made unavailable from the drama’s official website.
