IU Faces Backlash Following Revelation of Alleged Appearance Fees for “Perfect Crown”
IU is facing serious backlash over her reported appearance fees and a controversial new drama.
A viral post alleged IU is earning about ₩500 million KRW ($336,000 USD) per episode for the MBC K-Drama Perfect Crown. Over 12 episodes, that adds up to ₩6 billion KRW ($4.03 million USD). That would make IU one of the top-paid actors in Korea.
Netizens aren’t happy. Many say IU’s acting doesn’t justify the hefty paycheck.
Perfect Crown itself is under fire for suspected pro-China elements in its storyline, stirring even more controversy.
The drama shows:
- The Korean royal palace catching fire three times.
- Lacking proper fire extinguishers, with water buckets used instead.
- The female lead refusing to wear traditional hanbok, while all villains do wear it.
- The female lead wearing modern clothes & a Chinese zǎn hair ornament.
- The Queen Dowager, only one in hanbok, kneeling before the female lead.
- The Queen Dowager prostrating before the Grand Prince dressed in hanbok.
- Use of Chinese-style tea ceremonies in the Korean royal court.
- A Chinese-made fountain pen appearing at court.
- The male lead using a salutation linked to Korea’s vassal status under imperial China.
- Other signs painting Korea as a subordinate state to China (like specific ritual garments and crowns).
One viral post on Pann slammed IU bluntly:
“If this is true, it feels like there’s no future for South Korea. 6 billion won for IU and her terrible acting?”
Reactions online got harsher after the fee reveal. Here’s some of what netizens said:
“’I’ve got my money, so I’m fine. Public opinion’s bad, so I guess I should apologize.’”
“Is it really just a coincidence that IU, who speaks Chinese as well as a native speaker, ended up as the lead of that drama?”
“Honestly, what’s so shocking about the Perfect Crown controversy is how deep in China’s pocket do you have to be for a Chinese-style tea ceremony that Koreans have never seen or heard of in their lives to be casually featured in a drama about Korea? Everything else you could chalk up to a mistake, but that’s the kind of thing you simply cannot include without putting it in deliberately.”
“If that’s how they’re going to be, why not just go to China and work there openly pandering to them. Why stay in Korea acting pro-China and getting dragged for it?”
The Perfect Crown controversy and IU’s fees have become a hot topic on social media and forums. Fans and critics alike are watching closely as the drama airs and tensions rise.
