Comedian Lee Jin-ho (38), who is active in various entertainment programs, has revealed the truth about illegal internet gambling, causing an uproar in the broadcasting industry. The programs he appears in have been put on a ‘red light’, and as it has been revealed that some of his colleagues, including BTS‘ Jimin and broadcaster Lee Soo-geun, have suffered financial losses because of him, the ripple effect is growing throughout the entertainment industry.

On the morning of the 14th, Lee Jin-ho announced on his SNS, “In 2020, I started gambling on an illegal internet gambling site by chance, and I ended up taking on an unmanageable amount of debt,” and announced that he would faithfully cooperate with the upcoming police investigation. He continued, “I’ve stopped gambling now, but I‘ve already received financial help from many people,” and emphasized, “I will repay it with my own strength until I die.”

Due to the sudden gambling controversy, JTBC’s entertainment program ‘Knowing Bros’, in which Lee Jin-ho appears regularly, and Netflix‘s comedy program ‘Comedy Revenge’, which is scheduled to premiere on the 15th, have been hit hard.

In particular, the ‘Comedy Revenge’ production team had to shoulder the full burden of the related damages as Lee Jin-ho’s ‘Surprise Confession’ happened just an hour before the production conference was to be held. The production presentation introducing the program ended in a chaotic atmosphere due to Lee Jin-ho‘s absence, and follow-up measures such as ‘comprehensive editing’ with the premiere date just one day away have become virtually impossible.

The production team of ‘Comedy Revenge’ said after a long discussion, “This is the result of the dedication of not only many comedians, but also hundreds of staff members, production staff, and related parties who worked behind the scenes. Please understand that there are structural limitations to completely editing out a specific team as the program is structured as a group battle.”

The production team of ‘Knowing Brothers’, where Lee Jin-ho appeared for three years, also decided on his departure. On this day, a JTBC official stated, “Lee Jin-ho will no longer appear on the program. Starting with the broadcast on the 19th, we will edit out as much of his filmed footage as possible.”

Meanwhile, celebrities who lent large sums of money to Lee Jin-ho are also in a difficult situation. It was found that Jimin lent around 100 million won to Lee Jin-ho, and senior comedian Lee Soo-geun also lent at least tens of millions of won to Lee Jin-ho. It is said that they did good deeds at Lee Jin-ho’s request when he said, “I need urgent money,” but suffered losses.

An official from Jimin‘s agency Big Hit Music said, “It is true that there was financial damage (due to Lee Jin-ho) as reported, and he wrote a promissory note and lent it.”


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com