KBS Reportedly Dropped INFINITE’s Sunggyu From Their Show After His COVID-19 Diagnosis
On July 23, it was reported by numerous news sites that INFINITE Sunggyu‘s label Double H TNE and KBS were having internal issues and disagreements. The two sides are reportedly having difficulty coming to an agreement on whether or not Sunggyu would remain as a fixed cast member on the KBS variety program, Immobility (Pyolibudong.)
The issue arose back in June when Sunggyu tested positive for COVID-19. Double H TNE released a statement upon his positive COVID-19 test results, sharing that the INFINITE member would do his “best to abide by the quarantine management by cooperating with the government policy.” This meant that all of Sunggyu’s activities had to be halted because of the quarantine measures.
Due to this, Sunggyu inevitably had to miss filming for some his scheduled activities, including the filming for KBS’s Immobility.
It was reported that while it was originally discussed that the INFINITE member would be a fixed cast member for Immobility (Pyolibudong,) the production team of the KBS variety program suddenly notified Sunggyu and his agency of his departure from the show following his COVID-19 diagnosis.
Star News released an official statement from Double H TNE regarding the ongoing situation with KBS and their production team for Immobility.
After Kim Sunggyu recorded the first episode, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and could not film for episodes 2-4. We informed the production team that he would not be able to appear in episodes 5-6 given the circumstances.
Following his recovery from COVID-19, we contacted the production team and asked, ‘when should we come back to film?’ That’s when they responded, ‘we can no longer work together.’
It was already publicized that he would be a fixed cast member so we informed the production team ‘since we were removed from the program, we will share an updated press release.’ They told us not to do it.
— Double H TNE
A KBS representative responded to Double H TNE’s statement by sharing that “we never unilaterally notified him of his departure. They (the production team) are currently discussing it with his agency.”
source https://www.koreaboo.com/news/kbs-drop-infinite-sunggyu-covid-19/