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Shinhwa leader Eric is experiencing a great deal of stress these days. A variety show went ahead to release news of his participation to the press when the final decision had yet to be made, and as such Eric is now having a rough time because of this.
On the morning of 9 July, a newspaper article reported that Eric had agreed to participate in the Madagascar edition of SBS variety show ‘Law of the Jungle 2′.
Once the article was published, the media scrambled to report on this as well. But at that point in time, Eric had not confirmed his participation in the show and was due to meet the production team that very afternoon for final discussions.
In fact, Eric was in a meeting with the producers until the early hours of the morning to try to come to a consensus, but in the end he had to decline.
When news got out that Eric will not be appearing on the show after all, most netizens were understanding about Eric’s decision and expressed their disappointment.
But there were also criticisms coming from some netizens as well, “Why did he decide to go and then change his mind not to go now”, “Is he using scheduling conflicts as an excuse so that he can take part in other activities”. In particular, some netizens even posted some quotes from the production team, which were almost personal attacks.
Eric had expressed that he had been very positive about joining ‘Law of the Jungle’. But apparently as he had prior schedule commitments such as jTBC’s ‘Shinhwa Broadcast’ and commercials, if he were to join the show, there would be pressure on everyone else to have to change their schedules, and he didn’t want that.
Even if Eric took up the show, he also wouldn’t have been able to set off together with Kim Byung-man and the rest of the cast, and could only join them later. As such, overall plans for the show could be affected and after considering in detail, he decided to turn down the opportunity.
Eric himself is most disappointed about not being able to participate in the programme. Although ‘Law of the Jungle’ is a popular show that anyone would have wanted to join, Eric chose to honor his prior obligations instead of going with his personal interests. There’s no reason to fault him for that.
In particular, casting negotiations were leaked to the media when it should have been handled confidentially. Instead of criticizing Eric who racked his brains before arriving at a decision, shouldn’t we be applauding him for honoring his promises?
Credits: Asiatoday + Absolut Shinhwa