YouTube 'Entertainment President' Claims
"Couldn't Ignore Lee Jin-ho Who Came Asking for Help"
"Lent Money Without Knowing It Was Gambling Debt"
Comedian Lee Jin-ho (38), who admitted to illegal online gambling, is alleged to have borrowed a large sum of money amounting to 500 million won from a fellow celebrity.
On the 15th, the YouTube channel 'Celebrity President Lee Jin-ho' uploaded a video titled "Shocking Exclusive! Comedian Lee Jin-ho's Chilling Recent Situation After Admission! Why His Fellow Celebrities Are Shocked." In the video, the YouTuber claimed, "Lee Jin-ho borrowed nearly 2 billion won from acquaintances, and in particular, he borrowed as much as 500 million won from fellow celebrity A."
Regarding Mr. A, he explained, "Although he was not very close with Lee Jin-ho, he could not turn him away when Lee Jin-ho came asking for help, saying 'Please help me.' Thinking 'If he came to me, it must be a really urgent financial situation,' he even gave words of encouragement like 'I hope you pay it back by working hard on your broadcasting activities instead of borrowing money here and there,' and lent him the money." He added, "Later, when he found out that Lee Jin-ho borrowed money due to gambling debts, he was shocked but did not make any collection calls," and said, "Mr. A does not want this fact to be made public." Furthermore, he stated, "Except for Lee Soo-geun, Lee Jin-ho has not borrowed money from any other cast members of JTBC's 'Knowing Bros.' When rumors about Lee Jin-ho's gambling circulated among the production staff, they confirmed with him directly. At that time, he denied it as a rumor, but later wrote a post admitting to illegal gambling himself, which shocked both the production staff and cast."
Earlier, on the 14th, Lee Jin-ho confessed on his social media that "In 2020, by chance, I started playing games on an illegal online gambling site and ended up with debts that were hard to handle." He added, "With advice from acquaintances and the fear that I might never be able to do this again, I came to my senses late and quit gambling. I am steadily repaying the money every month and plan to repay everything with my own strength. I will also sincerely cooperate with the police investigation and pay the price for my mistakes."
As the controversy erupted, the broadcasting industry began distancing itself from Lee Jin-ho. The 'Knowing Bros' team announced, "Lee Jin-ho will be leaving starting from this week's recording. We plan to edit the already recorded footage as much as possible before airing." Meanwhile, the production team of Netflix's 'Comedy Revenge,' released on the 15th, expressed regret, saying, "We were very sorry to hear the news the day before the release. Due to the nature of the program, there are limitations to full editing, so we had no choice but to keep Lee Jin-ho's appearances."
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