SBS has issued a statement in lieu of controversy revolving around the upcoming remake of historical drama, My Sassy Girl. The broadcasting channel has reportedly been accused of sidelining Kim Joo Hyun to cast more popular and established actress for the show.
As per previous reports, the makers of My Sassy girl, who selected Hyun after holding fresh auditions, is not very keen on taking her as a female lead. The producers are seemingly interested to rope in Oh Yeon Seo as a protagonist.
In the statement released by SBS, the channel has denied their involvement in casting for the 2001 remake. It relayed: "RaemongRaein and H.Brothers, the companies in charge of producing 'My Sassy Girl,' used Midas Entertaining's all-cast site to hold an 'online public audition' with the aim of selecting the actress that will be playing opposite the male lead. However, SBS never officially participated in or discussed matters related to promotions and the planning or procedures of the online casting event. "
"With the drama production company's unilateral operation of the online casting, the breadth for application qualifications broadened excessively in scope, causing the adverse effect of unqualified people to apply [for the role] in mass numbers. When the public noted this adverse effect, the management agencies in charge of securing volunteers for the female lead role did not support the online casting," SBS explained.
In addition to it, staffer-producer Oh Jin Seok also stated that they did not have any hand in choosing the female lead. They stated: "We cannot select a female lead that will secure the completion of 'My Sassy Girl' through a faulty audition process such as an online audition casting, and because we judged that we cannot uphold the means of discovering new talent through such a publicized process, we did not participate at all in the audition procedure conducted by the external production companies."
Meanwhile, a drama representative has clarified rumors about Kim Hyun Joo being showed back door. He said: "Nothing is confirmed. We're still in the discussion stages."
