Troublemaker celebrities return
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From left are comedian Lee Soo-geun, singer Tony An, and entertainer Kim Yong-man who will return to the small screen after being suspended for engaging in illegal gambling. / Korea Times, Yonhap
By Park Jin-hai
Singer-turned-entertainer Tak Jae-hoon, who has been out of the public eye for over two years after being embroiled in an illegal online sports gambling controversy, finally makes his full-fledged return to the small screen.
Local broadcaster MBC lifted the ban on Tak, which prevented him from appearing on its programs, on April 1, almost instantly followed by the news that the 47-year-old entertainer will return to the limelight through the cable channel Mnet’s pseudo-documentary “The God of Music 2” and Channel A’s new reality show with working title “Back to University.”
Tak, a versatile entertainer hosting a number of shows, was jailed for six months and received a suspended sentence for one year in 2013 for gambling hundreds of millions of won on illegal betting sites, together with comedians Lee Soo-geun, Kim Yong-man and singer Tony An.
Tak said during a recent meeting with reporters that he would not feel small. “I would like to show my sincerity to all viewers. But if I act droopy on TV, it would not be fun. I will do as I did before, showing professionalism and entertaining viewers,” he plainly said. “Whatever I do, I will not be away from people’s pointing fingers. So I decided to do my work with fun and shoulder the criticism.”
Entertainer Tak Jae-hoon will return to the TV screen in two years after being suspended for participating in illegal gambling. / Yonhap
With Tak’s comeback, all other celebrities who have been sentenced for similar gambling charges prepare for their own comebacks to TV. One thing in common was that all the troublemaking celebrities, in fact, have taken the regular route of appearing on Internet channels first to gauge public reactions, and then on to cable TV, before finally returning to major network broadcasters.
Comedian Lee made his comeback with tvN’s “New Journey to the West” last September and bagged regular posts at JTBC’s “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator” and “Bros,” before starring on KBS show “Our Neighborhood Variety Sports,” as KBS lifted the blacklist on Lee in March, saying that he has shown enough regret over his past wrongdoing.
Industry watchers say that Shin Jung-hwan, a singer-entertainer who was slapped with a 7 million won fine for illegal gambling in 2005 and was caught again in 2010 gambling in the Philippines and staging a fake hospital stay, will come back within this year.
As for Tak appearing on MBC’s “Radio Star,” people are still cautious that the program could be reduced to indulging the star.
The talk show, in which a band of straight-talking hosts don’t mind to ask prickly questions into a guest’s past with a bit of humor, has with its openness often worked for scandal-marred celebrities.
Despite concerns, those troublemakers’ comebacks are wanted by the broadcasters, which have been running short of talented show hosts while competition gets harsher.
Culture critic Kim Seong-su said, “As new cable channels prosper, the number of programs increased, yet the pool of talented emcees is limited. During those celebrities’ exiles, emerged new emcees such as Kim Seong-joo and Jun Hyun-moo are running across programs. But now that they are overloaded and have health problems, the broadcasters are in desperate need of seasoned emcees for viewership.”
People point out an absence of guidelines for lifting bans on the use of such celebrities at broadcasters, which tempt them to make a toxic decision to recycle discarded stars.
KBS and MBC have blacklisted fallen stars who have done illegal acts or things that are against the morals of the nation. In general, celebrities who have been sentenced to heavier than probation are added to the list, with no clear guidelines. When a certain program pleads to the broadcaster that it needs a certain celebrity, the ban gets lifted, as in the case of comedian Lee. But the same yardstick didn’t apply to Kim Yong-man, Tak Jae-hoon and Tony An.
SBS has no blacklist for such matters, nor do cable channels.
“One single mistake can be forgiven. But, when the illegal acts are repeated, the same rules should apply for all celebrities regardless of broadcasters,” added critic Kim. “The Korea Communications Standards Commission, governing all TV stations, should come up with clear standards on that matter.”