The brands Domino's Pizza and Vitamin and Supplement Brand “Food Bucket” deleted advertisement photos and videos that include the actor Kim Seon-ho on 18 October following rumours claiming that he forced his ex-girlfriend to have an abortion.
The controversy erupted after a female netizen wrote on a popular South Korean online community claiming that an actor, “K”, who became famous in recent years, forced her to get an abortion and took advantage of her under the pretense of marriage. They broke up four months ago on the phone and the actor told her that he can't risk his career, and she experienced guilt and pain for over a year after the alleged forced abortion, as she had wanted to give up the baby, in light of her weak health. She also shared that the actor is two-faced, having a pure image in public and on screen, but being very cold and cruel in real life.
Following the post, reporter turned youtuber Lee Jin-ho analyzed the story and claimed that all the circumstances pointed to the actor 'K' being none other than popular actor Kim Seon-ho, whose last K-drama 'Hometown Village Cha Cha Cha' became a hot topic recently. Moreover, the reporter had become aware that Kim Seon-ho was in trouble with his ex-lover, thus concluding many aspects of the story in fact match up with the report of the victim.
The reporter also shared that the agency knew about the controversy, but although they have had more than enough time to respond, the agency has kept silent and is not responding to press inquiries on the matter.
While Salt Entertainment has not yet responded, fans of Kim Seon-ho have announced on South Korean Internet forums that they would take legal action against what consider to be the defamation of the beloved actor since his name is not confirmed as being involved in the controversy.
Kim Seon-ho debuted in 2009 and has appeared in many popular K-dramas, such as “Strongest Deliveryman”, “100 Days My Prince”, “Start-Up” and the recent “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha”.