Singer and musical actress Ok Joo-hyun clarified the casting controversy known as the 'Ok Jangpan Incident'.
On the 8th, Channel A's 'Close Friends Documentary Four-Person Table' featured Ok Joo-hyun inviting Tae and Lee Ji-hye to discuss the matter.
On that day, Park Kyung-rim mentioned the casting controversy of the musical 'Elisabeth' that arose three years ago. Ok Joo-hyun was embroiled in a networking casting controversy when Lee Ji-hye, from the same agency as Ok Joo-hyun, was included in the 10th-anniversary casting lineup of 'Elisabeth'.
At that time, Kim Ho-young posted on social media, "The old saying is gone. Now it's Ok Jangpan," targeting Ok Joo-hyun, who then sued Kim Ho-young for defamation, but they later reconciled, bringing the situation to a close.
Ok Joo-hyun stated, "I didn't talk to Lee Ji-hye, and Lee Ji-hye didn't talk to me. Because it wasn't okay. We both knew it wasn't okay."
Ok Joo-hyun continued, "I taught Lee Ji-hye everything she needed to know, not just for 'Elisabeth'. It wasn't prepared for a specific work. The work we learned together wasn't just 'Elisabeth'. I also learned a lot from Lee Ji-hye about things I didn't have."
She added, "We thought, 'It will be okay because we are innocent.' But the situation got too big."
Lee Ji-hye revealed, "Ok Joo-hyun is a solid number one in that role, and I have a personal friendship with her, and I received lessons from her. For these reasons alone, I became the subject of an issue that shouldn't have been on the chopping block."
She continued, "After the audition and the casting announcement, at the moment I should have received the most congratulations, I only received messages asking if I was okay. When friends called, I said, 'I'm fine, so please call Ok Joo-hyun.' After not talking about it with Ok Joo-hyun for a while, we hugged and cried a lot after the performance ended."
[Lee Se-bin, Star Today Guest Reporter]
