Comedian Lee Jin-ho, who was investigated by the police for illegal gambling, has been sent to the prosecution.
On the 17th, the Seoul Gangnam Police Station announced that it had transferred Lee Jin-ho to the prosecution for habitual gambling on the 15th.
According to the police, Lee Jin-ho is accused of spending hundreds of millions of won on illegal gambling online. It is reported that the amount borrowed from fellow entertainers and lenders is about 2.3 billion won, including BTS’s Jimin, comedian Lee Soo-geun, and singer Ha Sung-woon.
Meanwhile, Lee Jin-ho revealed his illegal gambling activities through his personal social media last October. At that time, Lee Jin-ho stated, “I started playing games on an illegal online gambling site by chance in 2020 and ended up with unmanageable debt.”
Lee Jin-ho confessed about the illegal gambling, saying, “With the sharp advice from friends and the fear that I might never be able to do this job I love again, I finally got my act together and was able to quit gambling, but I had already received financial help from many people. I am steadily repaying the money every month, and I plan to repay all this debt with my own strength until the day I die.”
The police received a civil complaint through the National Police Agency asking them to thoroughly investigate Mr. Lee's habitual gambling allegations and began their investigation. On the same day, Lee Jin-ho attended the police station for questioning as a suspect, during which he said, “I apologize for causing trouble once again.”
As a result, Lee Jin-ho stepped down from the variety show ‘Knowing Bros,’ where he was a regular cast member, and all content videos he advertised were taken down. Additionally, the timing of Lee Jin-ho's confession about illegal gambling was just one hour before the production announcement of the Netflix variety show ‘Comedy Revenge,’ which was scheduled to be released the day after the announcement.
Regarding whether Lee Jin-ho would be edited out completely, the team behind ‘Comedy Revenge’ stated, “All content, including 'Comedy Revenge,' is a result of the dedication and effort of not only many comedians but also the hundreds of staff and production crew working behind the scenes. Considering the structural constraints that editing out a specific team poses for a program organized as a team competition, we kindly ask for your understanding.”
Later, PD Kwon Hae-bom, who directed the program, was asked during an interview about his feelings when faced with the controversy before the production announcement. PD Kwon said, “I heard about it just 30 minutes before the production announcement, so I had no way to grasp the situation. I think I was shocked at that time, and it seemed like Lee Kyung-kyu helped center the situation. He told me, ‘It’s Mr. Lee Jin-ho’s private life, and it won’t shake the program,’ and I thought that was right since I hadn't grasped the entire situation yet. It was regrettable that there was nothing we could do about it, but it was unavoidable.”
When asked if Lee Jin-ho contacted him directly, PD Kwon Hae-bom cautiously replied, “It’s a bit difficult to speak on that matter,” and declined to comment.
[Photo] OSEN DB
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