As an actress, Lee Chae-young is perhaps better known for her body than her body of work. Never one to shy away from showing her talents, in recent times she has treated her followers to a set of bikini photos as well as flaunting her enviable figure in a revealing dress at the Seoul Drama Awards in 2010.
But Lee’s body-con complex doesn’t draw the line at her own “S-line”: a few days ago she caused Internet uproar when she posted a picture of a large caucasian woman queuing at a fast food shop on Twitter, noting that the trauma had made her reconsider her meal and her own figure. Such was the netizen reaction to Lee’s post, that she removed the problematic photo and comments, replacing them with an apology.
Far from being just another celebrity mishap article, Lee’s observations are hardly unique. Any girl who is attentive about her figure might have thought along the lines of what Lee wrote, and may actually have shared it with others, whether in conversation or on social networking sites. But what did Korean netizens have to say about Lee’s offending tweet?
From DCinside News:
Lee Chae-young quickly apologises for her tweet belittling a foreign lady for her body shape – ‘I will repent and mind my manners’
Actress Lee Chae-young previously uploaded a photograph taken in secret of a chubby female foreigner and wrote contemptuous remarks about it on her Twitter account. After some criticism was raised against her tweets, she removed the remarks and the photo, and quickly made an apology.
Lee tweeted her apology on the afternoon of the 16th, saying
I’m sorry. My heart feels heavy for disappointing many people with my flippant behaviour. I will repent and mind my manners. I apologise sincerely.
Earlier that day, she wrote:
I was so tired and had been waiting to grab something to eat at Denny’s, because I can get there without driving. But there’s a scary pink shadow…
Then she added that ‘she looks a lot skinnier in the photo. Really. Should I leave this place without eating?’ and made contemptuous remarks about the large body of the foreign woman, which led to an uproar, saying:
It made me want to lose 10kg when I get back to Seoul. Sorry about taking photo in secret. Thanks for motivating me.’
Netizens who saw her tweets criticised Lee, calling it ‘belittling remark about a woman’s figure.’ They commented that:
She may think so to herself, but she seems to have been a bit rash because she is a celebrity and so her Twitter account is seen by many people
It’s not wise of her to take a picture of a person in secret from behind and post that sort of comment. If someone took a secret photo of me and wrote something like that, I would be really offended.
Would she understand even a little of how the woman in the picture would feel, if someone else uploaded Lee’s photo on their account and criticised her thoughtlessness?’
Due to a flood of such criticism, Lee soon deleted her remarks and the photo. But they had already been re-tweeted and captured, spreading online and sparking relentless public criticism.
On the other hand, there are some self-reflective opinions that refrain from criticising her, following the flow of scornful comments about Lee. Some commented that:
The behaviour of the netizens who criticise Lee is not so different from Lee’s behaviour.
Her remarks were rash, but I don’t see if she really deserves so much kick in the pants. Just think how much she would be suffering and hurt by the harsh comments
It’s not like she swore at anyone, but she just seems to have indirectly expressed that one shouldn’t get fat. Is it wrong to think of refraining from tobacco, when looking at a photo of a smoker with cancer?
Comments from Nate – OSEN:
김준:
I should at least know who this person is if I were to point out her mistake…..
신문강:
She is proving the purity of her brain.
이지은:
Her build is pretty large, too…
Comments from Nate – Star News:
황소영:
Being female myself, I understand that you could say something like that among your friends but, that is a very private thing. I don’t even know who the hell Lee Chae-young is, but it looks really thoughtless to take a picture behind someone and ramble on [about that person], when you are someone who is seen by the public. You apologise, but the public has already seen how you openly and publicly belittled someone who looked ugly compared to yourself. I wish the foreign woman had sued Lee.
이용국:
It’s really embarrassing.. Her tweets made me cringe….. I cringe with shame and awkwardness at her writing style ke ke ke ‘I had something quick to eat at SEOUL for lunch today… My COMPUTER is a laptop from Samsung. I’m having COFFEE while making comments on NATE~~’ [She wrote the large-lettered words in English, which is awkward and pretentious because they are commonly used in their Korean forms.] Let’s vote ‘up’ for this article so that many people can see it!
김상엽:
One can see what a frightening price you pay for speaking carelessly. I shall reflect on my own manners, taking a lesson from people who are placed in an embarrassing situation with their comments such as Tweets. Miss Lee, thank you for the motivation.
Comments from Nate – Sports Chosun:
박정은:
So this is why you should close your Twitter account. I really don’t understand…why people blabber nonsense and make it into news articles… Some celebrities who are devoted to Twitter are increasingly behaving ugly… Are you one of them, too?
김창의:
Why should you repent… There are blokes who haven’t repented their marijuana use and simply laugh, sing and go about…[this is referring to celebrities who were charged with illegal drug use, but re-appear in media soon after the incident.] Your behaviour is way off their standard. This would have served as buzz marketing for you, so take this chance to get on the roll – go on the Healing Camp and Strong Heart, sob and say it was unfair. Healing Camp and Strong Heart are two of the popular talk shows in South Korea. Seungseung jang-gu, or ‘Win-Win’) is also the name of another talk show. Celebrities usually talk about their personal incidents, some of which were previously sensational or controversial, in these shows.]
Comments from Nate – Sports Seoul:
황순철:
I think she is just thoughtless.
홍상우:
‘Imprudent’ describes her the best. Didn’t this girl talk rash about some guys before? I didn’t think so highly of her ever since that time, because she seemed thoughtless.
김성수:
Ah..she’s the one who was cocky with her breasts at the award ceremony,,,,tut tut [Lee wore a very revealing dress at an award ceremony. See Lee’s dress at Seoul Drama Awards 2010]
Comments from DCinside News :
ㅁ:
She did make a mistake, but you should honestly say something about super-obesity because it’s root of lifestyle diseases.
ㅁㄴ:
Fat gals may as well get angry at her, since they will be under stress about their weight.
개티즌:
Lee didn’t take the photo with a malicious motive and she even made an apology, so why are the fucking netizens over-reacting again?
ㅋㅋㅋ:
ke ke ke ke it’s a buzz marketing for Samsung Galaxy Note. [Lee wrote in the Tweet above that the photo was taken with the particular model.]
zz:
Fat people can make fun of skinny ones but the skinny ones shouldn’t make fun of the fat ones… Isn’t that unfair?
ㅇㅁ:
It is insulting to call a fat person fat, just like calling a bald person bald. By the way isn’t Lee pretty? Her body is quite glamorous, too.
