Actor Ju Ji-hoon has finally spoken out following the mounting controversy surrounding his costumes in the new series ‘The Remarried Empress’.
On November 11, a short clip titled ‘Ju Ji-hoon Costume Controversy(?)’ was uploaded to the YouTube channel ‘MMTG’. In the video, host Jaejae asked Ju Ji-hoon, “Did you have moments where you thought, ‘Is this really the outfit I’m supposed to wear?’” Ju Ji-hoon responded with humor, saying, “Whenever I put on these prepared clothes, I think, ‘Is this even possible?! Does it really have to be this sheer?’”
Ju Ji-hoon jokingly asked, “Is an emperor’s dignity supposed to be at the solar plexus or the belly button?” Jaejae chimed in, “No, the neckline plunged all the way down to your belly button. So when is it supposed to be the solar plexus and when is it the belly button?”
Ju Ji-hoon kept a straight face as he explained, “Usually, casual home wear cuts off below the solar plexus. But for official formal events, it goes above the solar plexus,” bringing laughter to the set.
Actress Shin Min-a pointed out, ‘Even today, it’s a bit…’ while Ju Ji-hoon explained, ‘Today, it’s more of a casual house look.’ Jaejae added, ‘So today has an official home-wear vibe to it.’
Released on November 3, the Disney+ original series ‘The Remarried Empress’ boasted a massive production budget of tens of billions of won. However, it quickly became the subject of online debate due to cheap-looking costumes and props that viewers felt did not fit the grand scale.
Criticism was particularly harsh regarding Ju Ji-hoon’s outfits. Netizens left comments such as “The costumes stand out too much,” “His physical build is good enough to pull off average clothes,” and “The visuals should be great, but the outfits are holding it back.”
Despite the backlash, ‘The Remarried Empress’ surged to No. 1 on the Disney+ app’s ‘Today’s Top 10 in Korea’ just one day after its release. According to the global OTT streaming analytics site FlixPatrol, it also ranked No. 1 in the Disney+ TV show category across 12 countries and placed 7th overall.
Furthermore, Disney+ reported that within three days of its release, the series became the most-viewed local original content globally in Disney+ history. It also claimed the No. 1 spot among all Korean titles released across more than 50 markets, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Mexico, and Canada.
