Where Is She Now? The K-Drama Star Who Had An Affair With A Married Actor While Underage
In 2020, a promising rising actress deleted her official website and shut down her social media accounts after she admitted to having an affair with a married man.
Erika Karata is a Japanese actress and model. She debuted as a model in 2014, after being scouted by an agency while working part-time at a farm theme park during her second year of high school, then as an actress in 2017. In 2019, she played the role of Karika in the Korean drama Arthdal Chronicles.
In January 2020, news reports exposed Erika Karata’s affair with her former Asako I & II co-star, Masahiro Higashide, a married actor nine years her senior.
The affair, which continued even after Masahiro Higashide’s wife became pregnant with her and Masahiro Higashide’s third child, had reportedly begun when Karata was underage.
After admitting to the affair, Karata dropped out of the series Prayers in the Emergency Room and stepped back from the spotlight.
I want to acknowledge my weakness, foolishness, and childishness and face it head-on.
— Erika Karata
Where is Erika Karata now? In 2022, she played lead roles in the Japanese movies No Hō e, Nagareru and Mujō no Sekai. In 2023, she appeared in the Japanese films When Morning Comes, I Feel Empty and Playing Dead. Erika Karata is also part of the cast for the upcoming 2024 film Desert of Namibia and The Queen of Villains, a Netflix series that will air on September 19.
The Queen of Villains is a Japanese drama set in the 1980s that follows vicious female wrestlers. Erika Karata has not appeared in any Korean films or series since her 2020 scandal.
