“Mr. Queen” is catching flak belatedly and it has to do with the controversial drama “Joseon Exorcist.”
“Joseon Exorcist” became controversial soon after it aired its first episode, it was under fire for using Chinese props and for distorting history. Two days after the premiere of the drama, SBS announced its decision to cancel it and take it off air. The drama is written by scriptwriter Park Gye Ok and he’s under fire for his other previous work “Mr. Queen,” but why?
In case you don’t recall, “Mr. Queen” was also under fire shortly after it aired in December of 2020. The drama was based on the work of a Chinese writer who has posted negative comments about Korea in another work. “Mr. Queen” is based on the original Chinese web drama “Go Princess Go” which was made by the same writer who made negative remarks about Korea. Netizens criticized the drama for dramatizing the work by such a writer.
Added to that, in episode 2 of “Mr. Queen,” the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty were referred to as “merely jirashi.” jirashi basically means tabloid unconfirmed rumors that are often malicious. In reality, those records are designated as the 151st national treasure of Korea and are listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World registry. As the issues gained traction, the production team behind “Mr. Queen” issued an apology and a statement addressing the situation.
Instead of catching irreversible damage, “Mr. Queen” went on to become one of the biggest cable channel dramas of all time ending on such a high note in ratings scoring a new record for tvN.
Following the backlash by the same scriptwriter, fans have noticed that CJ ENM has begun deleting all traces of the tvN drama from various platforms.
As of March 26, all VOD services of “Mr. Queen” as well as clips on Naver and YouTube disappeared, they were taken down.
The backlash has also begun to affect the actors involved in the project including Shin Hye Sun who is facing issues of contract withdrawals from various endorsements.
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