Kim Tae-ri issued a personal apology on her Instagram account on May 23, 2023, in response to the current dispute over subtitles for her vlogs. The message, which was written in both Korean and English, was shared sometime after the actress’s agency issued a statement about it.
The uproar arose a day earlier when the Twenty-Five, Twenty-One actress published photographs from the third episode of her vlog and said that the English subtitles had finally been added, after almost a year of waiting. She also announced the launch of a volunteer initiative in which fans from all around the globe may help her subtitle the 20-30 minute episodes in their own language.
Kim Tae-ri and her agency, Management Mmm, were immediately chastised for requesting free work without offering any remuneration. As the backlash mounted, the agency issued a statement explaining its objectives. When that failed to appease netizens, the actress issued an apology clarifying her viewpoint. Kim Tae-ri said that she was the one who added English subtitles and thought of making the project available to admirers from all over the world. She said that she should have approached supporters with more care.
Kim Tae-ri apologizes personally to volunteers and issues a public statement on her subtitles incident.
Kim Tae-ri posted on her Instagram account on May 22 to notify followers of the inclusion of English subtitles to the third episode of her vlog, which was broadcast a year ago on YouTube. She also hoped to cheer them up by revealing that episode four will be released shortly and introducing a volunteer-based subtitling effort. Unfortunately, the strategy flopped. The actress had included a Google form link in the now-deleted Instagram post, requesting admirers from different nations to translate her vlogs to make them more accessible. However, netizens quickly chastised her for “talent donations,” sometimes known as free labor.
It takes a lot of effort to translate a nearly half-hour video. It was a legitimate profession, with the added of producing subtitles, that many believed should have been awarded money or some special products.
The twenty-five, twenty-one-year-old actress apologized on Instagram once again for not thinking thoroughly before embarking on such a project. She also said that she worked on her vlogs from start to finish, recording, editing, and adding English subtitles. She stated:
“I should not have approached my fans as if I were requesting talent donations.” It was an obvious error, and I regret that I was unaware of it. I apologize to everyone who was made uncomfortable by my rash thoughts and actions.”
The actress also said that she personally sent her apologies to followers who expressed an interest in helping.
“I understand that an honest apology is more important than anything else.” I apologized in writing to everyone who volunteered to assist with the translation job.”
Kim Tae-ri’s apology is available in English below:
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Meanwhile, Kim Tae-ri’s new series is set to debut shortly. She collaborated on the mystery thriller drama Revenant with SBS and renowned scriptwriter Kim Eun-hee (of Kingdom, Signal, and Ghost fame). The program will debut on June 23 at 10 p.m. KST.
