Star chef quits after video scandal
Lee Chan-oh(left) hugs an unidentified woman on his lap. / Screen capture from YouTube
By Ko Dong-hwan
Chef-entertainer Lee Chan-oh is leaving his TV shows after
a video clip that captured his alleged affair sparked public outrage.
Cable TV network JTBC said Thursday that “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator” and “Global Chef Wars,” weekly cooking variety shows where Lee regularly appeared, had accepted his resignation. After the 25-second video clip went viral on Monday, netizens left comments on the shows’ websites demanding the chef’s permanent exit from the programs.
Lee, 32, married TV personality and model Kim Se-rom in August 2015.
The video was taken at an eatery where Lee and an unidentified woman were sitting at a table covered with dishes of food and liquor bottles. The video showed the woman sitting on Lee’s lap while the chef hugged her waist.
After the video leaked, Lee denied rumors of an affair, saying the woman was his friend. But his explanation did not persuade the public. Netizens said they could not see how a man could sit his “woman friend” on his lap and hug her from behind.
Lee and Kim Se-rom / Courtesy of Instagram
Kim criticized netizens who blamed her husband. She explained on
Thursday that Lee participated in the Jeju Food & Wine Festival that ended on May 14 and the scene from the video is from a party held after the event.
“It’s nonsensical to generate meaningless scandals,” she said on the site. “Do not distort the truth. Please don’t get too excited about the rumors by leaving comments or writing tabloid reports.”
She also said: “Tomorrow I will post photos that will be more intriguing to you all (than the rumors).”
The next day, she posted photos of herself at Helsinki Airport. She said she had participated in a fashion show titled “Match Made in Hel ― The Runway” at the airport.