tvN’s 20th Anniversary Tribute Video Sparks Intense Controversy

tvN is facing major backlash for excluding Queen of Tears from its 20th anniversary YouTube montage.

The controversy began when tvN posted a special video on December 31, highlighting its biggest hit K-Dramas. Clips from Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, My Mister, Reply 1997, Hotel Del Luna, Lovely Runner, and Bon Appetit, Your Majesty were included.

But fans exploded over the glaring absence of Queen of Tears, tvN’s highest-rated drama ever. The likely reason? The scandal involving Kim Soo Hyun, one of the leads.

This decision sparked outrage especially for Kim Ji Won, the lead actress playing chaebol heiress Hong Hae In. Fans say erasing the whole show disrespects her hard work and stellar performance.

Fans flooded Twitter with anger:

“a woman delivers excellence, a man fucks up, and suddenly her work is erased. jiwon deserved recognition for queen of tears, yet she got nothing because of that man’s scandal. fuck men.”
— j (@rhybeom)

“Jiwon took English class, diet for a year, working hard a long with other staff who work their ass off to give tvn the most successful drama. Tvn should at least include that effort”
— MyDing (WONEDAY)

“Imagine working your ass off for a year to help a channel get their highest rated show of all time But still they disrespect you everytime in return Kim jiwon you are allowed to use a gun”
— Anastasia

“Even in these split second scenes Jiwon had way more presence than that man and was basically carrying the show And yet women still end up getting dragged down because of men’s mess”
— y

“How dare you not include Queen of tears, Kim Jiwon didn’t bring you all that success with her iconic Hong Haein character for you to ignore her effort like that”
— 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘺

Other fans blamed Kim Soo Hyun for tarnishing the show’s legacy, supporting tvN’s choice to skip his work completely.

“why are people blaming tvn instead of #that pedo for the qot erasure”
— mai

“nothing says the industry has turned its back on a disgraced superstar than tvN leaving out their highest rated kdrama from their 20th anniversary commemorative video.”
— yrdr2snaps

“qot being excluded from any tvn anniversary content and i can’t even be mad men really do nothing but ruin things”
— °

Many also pointed out that tvN could have included just Kim Ji Won’s scenes to acknowledge her effort:

“You know not adding the Highest Rating Drama of TVN is such a crime. Could’ve just add Kim Jiwon’s scenes . Just the fact that she and all who worked hard for this drama needs to be credited .”
— Sashara

“SK are really cruel to women. If it was the woman in such a scandal they would have edited her scenes out and included the PEDO and give him all the awards. Shame on you @CJnDrama”
— Braziliangirl

“How do you not include your highest rated show? There are plenty Jiwon and the other cast scenes you could have used. She worked just as hard for the show to be what it was and deserve better than being paid dust over someone else’s fuck up”
— k_adinkra⋆𐙚

The majority agree tvN made actors like Kim Ji Won pay for Kim Soo Hyun’s scandal by erasing Queen of Tears completely.

The situation is still sparking heated debate online as fans call for fair recognition of the hard work behind the hit drama.