‘You have to sleep with me’: Korean actress Heo Yi Jae reveals the moment she suddenly decided to retire from entertainment

September 13, 2021

South Korean actress Heo Yi-jae revealed to Way, a member of disbanded K-pop group

What happened: On Way’s popular YouTube channel, Heo appeared as a guest on Sept. 10 to talk about her experience in the entertainment industry in a Korean-language video titled “The reality of a Korean actress (slapping, shameless actors).”

Heo and Way became friends on the set of SBS’ K-drama “You Are A Gift.” Heo is also well known for her roles in the movie “Sunflower” and the drama “Single Dad In Love,” according to My Drama List.
In the YouTube video, Heo comes over to Way’s house to hang out as friends, but Way explains that she feels like the topic is interesting so she thought it would be good to film their discussion, with Heo agreeing on screen.
Heo retired from the entertainment industry in 2016, and in the video with Way, she says that a married actor was the reason why she quit.
She and the unnamed actor had to act in many scenes together as a couple. She said that their relationship started off friendly, but that he started to curse at her on set every day, possibly due to her not contacting him when they weren’t on set.
One day on set when the actor had cursed at her again, the director spoke to Heo about the two actors’ relationship. The director told Heo, “He [the actor] is looking at you sexually, but you didn’t, so it seems he tried to knock you down with fear,” referring to the actor cursing at Heo constantly.
Shocked, Heo went to the actor’s waiting room to speak to him about the situation. The actor allegedly said to Heo, “Yi-jae, do you know what people say after watching our drama? They say you and I don’t seem to have a relationship.” Heo says she apologized to the actor and told him that she would try harder in their scenes together so that they wouldn’t be criticized.
However, the unnamed actor reportedly continued, saying, “But do you know how to make it seem like we’re a couple?” She responded saying she didn’t know, and he said, “We have to sleep together.”

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The hunt: After the video — which has over 500,000 views as of this writing — was posted, many began trying to figure out who the actor that made the advance was in the comment section of Way’s video.

Because Heo described the actor as very popular and a “king on set,” many viewers were left curious as to who he was.
Heo revealed his identity to Way in a clip that wasn’t shared with the audience. Way said afterwards, “I heard who it was. It was very shocking because I like him.”
Heo wrote in the comment section of the video, “I ask you to refrain from witch hunting because I didn’t make this video to throw shade at someone or attack a specific person.”
She also wrote, “I will return with many different funny, or meaningless, or interesting or useful content! Thank you to every one of you who wrote a healing comment for me, from the bottom of my heart.”
Way responded to her comment, writing, “Please support our Yi-jae unni a lot.”

Forced Sex: Heo is not the only actress who has had a sexual proposition brought to her. According to Extra Korea, over 60 percent of actresses in the South Korean entertainment industry have been pressured to have sex.

After “Boys Over Flowers” actress Jang Ja-yeon committed suicide in 2009 due to being forced to sleep with multiple wealthy men, a survey was conducted with around 200 actresses responding.
Of those interviewed, 55 percent of actresses said that they “received at least one offer of sponsorship,” which is a contract between an actress and a rich man where the man gives her money in return for sexual favors.
About 60 percent of the actresses believed that they would ruin their careers if they rejected the sexual offers or advancements towards them. Forty-eight percent said that they lost opportunities because they rejected sexual offers.
While six percent of the actresses interviewed said that they were raped, 31.5 percent said they had been molested.
One actress said that her manager made advances on her, saying that “how much” she knew about men would “decide how famous” she would be.

Featured Image via 웨이랜드 Wayland

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