[Variety Show] Abnormal Summit

Right, let's have a discussion for this. It's been hitting fairly high ratings (episode 11 got 6.8% in Seoul!) so about a time, eh.

I didn't really know what to expect from this. Seeing how, er, "novelty" foreigners still are in Korea, I was a bit worried... But that wasn't needed, they're doing really well. They've gathered a really good G11. Lots of differing opinions there so the debate is always fun to watch~

This show just gets scandals after scandals. So first we had the Japanese anthem playing, casts' visa problems, Daniel leaving to "study", and now finally Enes withdrawing after his scandal.

Usually I tend to think that Korea takes celebrities' scandals tad too seriously but regarding Enes and his decision to leave... It's just right this time. He built a variety character based on conservative morals but now it has been totally undermined.

But I wonder if the show will survive now.

Tyler has (/had?) a student visa and Zhang Yuan is (/was? I don't know if anything has changed by now.) under a foreign language teacher visa. Neither of these is good for entertainment work. Tyler got fined. But somehow, they were allowed to continue the show, if they just limited the endorsing activities.

Aussie Daniel left the show. He was said to go back to Australia to study but then posted to instagram that "ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What studying. ㅗ Me, study?" and later deleted that and claimed his account was "hacked". People speculate that he, too, had visa problems just like Tyler and Zhang Yuan, but that while JTBC sorted out Tyler and Zhang Yuan, they didn't do the same to him.

Now, Enes' scandal is all his own doing. A woman came forward with screenshots of her and Enes' conversation that strongly hint that he has been... acting like a single guy (he is married and his kid was born just last year). Having affairs. She had some voice recordings and photos in effort to prove it was Enes. Then another woman came forwards saying the same.

Enes initially stayed quiet, withdrew from the show, and has now lawyered up and released a statement (defamation, misunderstandings, "will reveal the truth through law".... So the usual.).

Ah, it's such a mess.