Joining the entertainment industry in 2014, Jung Hae-in has risen to become one of the leading male stars of the Hallyu wave, with his name resonating across Asia. During the first four years of his career, Jung Hae-in demonstrated his acting ability through supporting roles and gradually gained audience appreciation. In 2018, he secured his first leading role in the drama “Something in the Rain” (also known as “Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food”), starring alongside the “nation’s first love” Son Ye-jin. However, just as he was basking in the glow of newfound stardom, Jung Hae-in became a target of public backlash due to a photo that exposed what many considered an “improper” action by the actor born in the 1980s.
The 54th Baeksang Arts Awards on May 3, 2018, became the most “dark” memory of Jung Hae-in’s career. At the time, he was still a young star who had only recently garnered attention. A photo taken at the end of the awards ceremony turned him into the center of criticism. Specifically, the image showed Jung Hae-in standing in the central, front-row position for a group photo.
This was considered a serious faux pas in the Korean entertainment industry, as the central front-row position is typically reserved for artists who win the Daesang (the most prestigious award of the ceremony) or Best Actor/Actress awards. At the time, Jung Hae-in had not even won the Best New Actor award; he only received the Most Popular Actor award, a fan-voted category. Meanwhile, his counterpart in this category, Bae Suzy, who was significantly more famous and also the event’s MC, stood inconspicuously in the back row.
Jung Hae-in’s “audacity” in taking a position that was not rightfully his led to intense criticism from the public. Netizens labeled him with harsh words such as “rude,” “disrespectful to seniors,” and “desperate for the spotlight.”
His “improper” action was also compared to the behavior of other famous actors. In the past, Kim Soo-hyun, despite winning three awards for “My Love from the Star” in 2014, stepped back five paces to make room for his seniors. In 2017, renowned actors like Gong Yoo and Park Bo-gum refrained from stepping into the central position, deferring to screenwriter Kim Eun-sook, the Daesang winner that year.
As the controversy escalated, a journalist from Ilgan Sports – the media sponsor of the Baeksang Awards – posted on Instagram to exculpate Jung Hae-in. The journalist claimed that Jung Hae-in was, in fact, polite and respectful to his seniors and did not compete for the position. The seating and standing arrangements were determined based on factors such as height and the number of male and female attendees. Jung Hae-in was simply following staff instructions regarding his position.
A staff member present at the event also clarified:
“He was about to leave since he did not know there would be a group photo. When he found out, he waited on stage for the seniors to come up and bowed to them. Since he was a rookie, he did not know where to stand. The seniors who came up later weren’t familiar with anyone either, so everything got chaotic. It’s likely he ended up in the center unintentionally. We deeply regret that this turned into a malicious scandal.“
More than three weeks after the incident, during an interview, Jung Hae-in opened up about the matter. The actor shared:
“I really wanted to run away. I’d be grateful if people could understand this situation, but it became too serious. I think it was a valuable lesson and experience to help me handle my work better in the future.”
In over a decade of working in the entertainment industry, Jung Hae-in has rarely been embroiled in scandals, which makes the “center position” photo the darkest stain in his career. Fortunately, he managed to gradually regain public favor and achieved remarkable success in his acting career with major works across film and television such as “Love Next Door”, “D.P.”, “Snowdrop”, “I, the Executioner”, and more.
