Actress Seo Ye Ji “Admits” To Gaslighting And Makes Light of Her Scandals—Reactions Heavily Divided
In March 2025, actress Seo Ye Ji (also known as Seo Yea Ji) guested on TV Chosun‘s beloved Heo Young Man’s Food Travel show, making it her first entertainment program appearance since her 2021 “gaslighting” scandal. On the show, she mentioned how stressful it was for her to deal with all the “misunderstandings” that came with her career as an actress.
She has since made her second TV appearance—though this time, on a much lighter note. On the April 12, 2025 (KST) episode of the seventh season of Saturday Night Live Korea (SNL Korea), the actress was welcomed as the featured guest.
At the beginning of the episode, when hosting comedian Shin Dong Yup asked how she feels about the upcoming skits, Seo Ye Ji first used the word “gaslight,” and poked fun at her own scandal from 2021.
Seo Ye Ji: I do feel a bit nervous, but I’ll do my best to meet your expectations. I won’t hold anything back, and I’ll put my everything out there.
Shin Dong Yup: What exactly do you mean by doing your best?
Seo Ye Ji: I’ll gaslight all the crew members to do their best and make it fun.
Her first skit, then, also seemed to allude to her past controversies. In a parody of the popular ChatGPT called “Seo Ye JiPT,” she gaslighted SNL Korea crew and comedian Kim Won Hoon, making him feel like he couldn’t live without her. The skit included several moments that hit close to her own gaslighting scandal.
When Kim, unable to admit he’d gotten help from AI, stayed silent, she snarked, “What’s really shameful is sitting quietly and getting dragged without saying a word. That’s what’s unfair. I’ve been through that a lot myself,” which reminded the viewers of her rumors involving actor Kim Soo Hyun.
In the second skit, “Eve’s Hair Salon,” the actress referenced the messages she had sent actor Kim Jung Hyun, ordering him to be “stern” (or indifferent, ddak-ddak) with his co-star Girls’ Generation‘s Seohyun.
Seo Ye Ji: You’re very tense.
Kim Won Hoon: Yeah, it’s pretty ddak-ddak, right?
Seo Ye Ji: We say tense, not ddak-ddak.
The episode continued with more skits featuring Seo Ye Ji joking about her past controversies. Wrapping up, she thanked the crew for giving her a good laugh and the audience for watching through it all.
After the episode, viewers were—expectedly—divided. Some criticized her for making light of serious incidents, especially her behavior of gaslighting another actor into ruining a K-Drama, which involved a victim. Others praised her for directly addressing the rumors and facing them head-on, saying it showed her true, chill personality.
- “We have other actresses, come on.”
- “She must be bringing it up like that because she didn’t actually gaslight anyone, lol. People are always going after Seo Ye Ji no matter what anyway.”
- “She tried turning that into comedy…?”
- “Yeah, we were at her for gaslighting Kim Jung Hyun but… we only got Kim Jung Hyun’s side of the story, after all.”
- “What unforgivable crime did she supposedly commit, and who did she harm so badly? She got canceled for YEARS just for texting her boyfriend to act a little indifferent? That’s worth blocking her entire career? I hope she makes a comeback through her acting. Hwaiting! In a society where even sex offenders of minors still get tons of roles, people flipping out over Seo Ye Ji’s level of wrongdoing is just absurd, LOL. If you’re gonna be that mad, go leave comments under actors who actually committed sex crimes against minors.”
- “The more I think about it, the more disappointed I am in SNL Korea. There are limits to what you joke about. Turning her whole gaslighting scandal into a comedy skit? Not funny at all. I hope SNL Korea learns that hurting others isn’t comedy.”
- “What went down was between consenting adults… There wasn’t even an investigation, and besides, wasn’t the story we got one-sided and lacking context? I don’t get why people conclude it was gaslighting and bash her.”
- “She’s a talented actress with a uniquely intense screen presence. I want to see her act again. She should make a comeback through her acting. It’s not like back in the days anymore. There are plenty of K-Dramas off the three main public channels. If you don’t like her, just block her name from your feed and move on. Why follow her around just to hate? On shows for the streaming platforms, she’d probably do great as a strong or crazy character.”
- “It was between adults… and she already apologized. It was comedy, after all. And they say gaslighting, but wasn’t it basically mutual consent?”
- “How is this supposed to be funny?!”
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