It’s Okay to Not Be Okay fame Seo Ye Ji to resume work after 2-year hiatus following school bullying controversy
Seo Ye Ji is finally all set to end her hiatus. After two years since Eve, she is slowly returning to work activities. Read on to know more.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of bullying.
Seo Ye Ji, the popular actress known for her fierce on-screen avatars, got embroiled in a series of controversies around 2021. Although she returned with Eve in 2022, the public viewing was against her, leading to her indefinite hiatus at that time. However, after 2 years, she is now slowly resuming work.
On July 19, Korean media outlet Newsen reported that Seo Ye Ji will make her public appearance for the first time in 2 years at an event for a cosmetic brand. She will appear before the press for a photo session at a department store in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the morning of August 23.
For the unversed, in 2021, Seo Ye Ji effectively suspended her activities after a string of allegations arose against her in April of the same year. In 2014, she was first accused of school violence. 7 years later, the allegations resurfaced against her. Although her agency initially refuted them, when further controversy occurred regarding her past, things got out of hand.
She was also accused of academic fraud. In her earlier interviews, she said that she attended a university in Spain while dreaming of becoming a news anchor. But in a later interview, she dismissed them as rumors, saying she doesn’t understand why people are making things up. Needless to say, it sparked huge criticism.
The biggest controversy of them all was her ‘romance scandal’, which resurfaced the other allegations against her in 2021. She was accused of controlling and gaslighting her ex-boyfriend Kim Jung Hyun to the extent that she forbade him to act in any romance storyline with other actresses.
Around the same time, an anonymous staff member who worked with her on the set of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay accused Seo Ye Ji of mistreating the crew. The person claimed that she often ordered them around and verbally abused them.
Although in 2022, the actress returned to the small screen with a role in tvN drama Eve, the public response wasn’t in her favor. Amid this situation, her contract with GOLDMEDALIST also expired in November 2023.
In May 2024, Seo Ye Ji reopened her Instagram and recently, she signed with SUBLIME, an agency that houses stars like Song Kang Ho, Tiffany Young, and more.
Disclaimer: If you know someone who is suffering from bullying, abuse, or violence, reach out to a nearby doctor, expert, or NGO for immediate help. There are several helplines available for the same.