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'SNL Korea' draws backlash for sexual parody of 'Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born'

Published: 28 Oct. 2024, 17:46

YOON SEUNG-JIN
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Actor Ahn Young-mi impersonates teenage character from the TV series ″Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born″ on Coupang Play's SNL. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Coupang Play's "SNL Korea" series has yet again come under fire for creating derogatory content.

In the latest episode released on Oct. 26, "SNL Korea Season 6" parodied a teenage character from the TV series "Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born" in a sexually suggestive manner.

The controversial skit, titled "Jeotnyeon," used a Korean word that is a sexual slang term for women's breasts. The content itself was overtly sexual, featuring the main actor making suggestive gestures and comments, including phrases like "Just looking at them makes me pregnant" and "They would be a boon to the birthrate policy."

This is not the first instance of Coupang Play coming under fire for producing controversial content.

It drew significant backlash for its allegedly misogynistic and racist content just a week before, particularly in its portrayal of NewJeans' member Hanni and Nobel Prize winner Han Kang.

Actors Kim Eui-sung, left, and Ji Ye-eun impersonating Hanwha Ocean’s head of Geoje shipyard Jung In-sub and NewJeans member Hanni [SCREEN CAPTURE]

In the controversial episode released on Oct. 19, actress Ji Ye-eun impersonated Hanni, a Vietnamese Australian, mocking her accent and satirizing her testimony before the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee regarding a workplace harassment allegation.

The episode also mimicked novelist Han, with actor Kim Ah-young exaggerating her physical appearance, such as her hunched posture and squinted eyes.

Aside from "SNL Korea," YouTube channels have also been under fire for creating derogatory content.

Comedy trio Psick Univ [META COMEDY]

Psick Univ was criticized for creating discriminatory content regarding a county they visited in May.

The channel’s members — comedians Lee Yong-ju, Jung Jae-hyung and Kim Min-su — visited Yeongyang County and made mockery of the local stores and infrastructure in a video uploaded on May 11. The trio lost more than 260,000 subscribers since the controversy.

"Even though it is a comedy show, I believe it was inappropriate to cover broadcast content that belittles or mocks a particular region," governor Oh Do-chang of Yeongyang County said on May 20 on SBS radio.

The thumbnail of Gangbuk District Office's controversial YouTube clip that NewJeans' fans claim mocks Hanni [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A public agency's YouTube channel has recently been drawn into controversy as well.

On Oct. 18, Gangbuk District Office uploaded a video mocking Hanni. The video featured a woman wearing Hanni's outfit from the National Assembly hearing and the member's name. In the video, the woman says, "Just like Hanni, say you don't understand it. Then the lawmakers will just let it slide."

Fans accused the office of mocking Hanni and following the backlash, the local government made the clip unavailable for public viewing and issued a formal apology on its YouTube channel.

“We sincerely apologize for causing great concern to many people due to the video we posted,” it said in its apology uploaded on Oct. 21.

“We will be more careful and mindful for future content creation processes.”

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [[email protected]]