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Backstreet Rookie star Ji Chang Wook draws flak after his convenience store employee for a day act backfires
Backstreet Rookie star Ji Chang Wook brought traffic to a halt after news about his part-time gig at a convenience store made spread on social media and fans flocked to the store. The actor's agency and the store apologised for disrupting social distancing.
Ji Chang Wook has found himself in between yet another controversy. The Backstreet Rookie star plays a convenience store manager on the SBS drama and he has been winning hearts everywhere. The actor decided to take the role outside the filming studio and turn into a real-life store employee for a day earlier this week. The South Korean heartthrob was seen dressed in a store uniform and sported a mask while he stood behind the cash counter at a GS25 store.
While he went about surprising fans, little did he know the event would end up backfiring. When the news of his part-time job online spread online, it came as no surprise that fans flocked to the convenience store to catch a glimpse of their Oppa. Photos of fans flooding the store surfaced online and a few lucky fans also shared selfies taken with the star. However. the pool of fans defied the purpose of social distancing and the actor along with his agency received massive flak for the activity.
Due to the outpour of people, Ji Chang Wook evacuated the premise at 2:30 pm instead of the previously scheduled exit of 6 pm. The incident, which took place on August 3, led to the actor's agency Glorious Entertainment issuing an apology. Via AllKPop, Ji Chang Wook's agency said, "Back on August 3, a schedule in which Ji Chang Wook was supposed to carry out filming was incorrectly promoted as a customer event at 'GS25'. We would like to apologize for our failure to respond accordingly when the massive crowd gathered at the convenience store."
Apart from the agency, the store also issued an apology for the incident. "On August 3, due to our failure to properly oversee a filming schedule which took place at one of our GS25 stores, we caused safety issues for many people in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic; we sincerely apologize for the errors." The chain of stores added that the apologised for not being ill-prepared on the day of the activity. "On August 3, actor Ji Chang Wook was scheduled to film promotions contents with GS25... However, during the filming, an employee incorrectly posted via SNS that filming was taking place at the location... The filming was then improperly promoted via SNS as a type of event for consumers to come and meet Ji Chang Wook, causing a serious misunderstanding." the statement added.
"Too many people overcrowded the site so that we were forced to halt all filming early, but as a result of our ill-preparedness, we were not able to restore order to the site. We would like to apologize for causing concerns during these times when many people are fighting against the further spread of COVID19," they concluded. It has been reported that the August 3 incident is not a part of the SBS drama's promotions.
Do you think Ji Chang Wook and his team should have pulled the plug on the event on the ideating table giving the ongoing COVID-19 crisis? Let us know what you think of the incident in the comments below.
The new controversy comes days after Korea Communication Standards Commission warned Backstreet Rookie of provocative and inappropriate scenes. In a statement reported by The Korea Herald, KCSC said, "In the process of producing an R-rated webtoon into a TV series with a rating of 15 years old and older, the drama production team has shown that it lacks consideration in portraying different genders and produced contents that can cause viewers discomfort and aversion." The warning was issued after over 6000 complaints were filed by viewers with the committee following the premiere of the series.
Read more about the controversy here: Backstreet Rookie receives warning from KCSC over provocative and inappropriate scenes
Meanwhile, Backstreet Rookie is headed into its finale weekend. With just two episodes left, the series has been witnessing a stable viewership in South Korea for its pre-finale weekend episodes. Backstreet Rookie Episode 13 recorded nationwide ratings of 5.7 percent and 7.4 percent. The 14th episode registered a rating of 5.4 percent and 8.0 percent for its two parts.
Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
