KBS has paused the broadcast of The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won for two weeks and suspended the streaming service as the drama came under fire for animal cruelty.
On January 21st, KBS released an official statement saying that they will not be airing the 13th and 14th episodes of the drama scheduled to air on January 22nd to 23rd. The statement says whether the drama will come back after two weeks has not been decided yet. KBS also stopped the streaming service for the 7th episode that includes the controversial footage of the horse falling to the ground to its death. KBS will have a meeting with the Korea Animal Welfare Association (KAWA) on January 24th and discuss the measures to prevent the recurrence of the accident.
Previously on January 20th, the production was accused of abusing and injuring an animal by KAWA. They uploaded a video of a horse tied to a wire, which is used to forcefully make the animal fall to the ground to create a dramatic fall scene. The animal rights organization later revealed that the horse had died about a week after the filming and that they are currently planning to file charges against the production for animal cruelty.
The petition on Blue House’s website asking for the suspension of the drama quickly racked up thousands of signatures. Viewers also flocked to lead actor Joo Sang Wook‘s Instagram account and left negative comments. The comments read, “Leave the show that abuses animals,” “The entire drama should be canceled so that something like this never happens again.”
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