Controversy erupted after the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards with Gucci (hereafter, Baeksang) unveiled its nominees on the 13th: the hottest debate wasn’t who made the list — it was why Yoo Jae-suk didn’t. While interest in the TV category was as strong as in drama and film, fans were stunned to see Korea’s top variety icon missing entirely. This year’s Male Variety Performer nominees are Kwak Beom, Kian84, Kim Won-hoon, Lee Seo-jin, and Choo Sung-hoon. The Variety Program nominees are MBC Geukhan 84, MBC Rookie Director Kim Yeon-koung, SBS Our Ballad, Coupang Play Office Workers Season 2, and Netflix Culinary Class Wars: Season 2. Neither Yoo Jae-suk nor any of his flagship shows appeared anywhere on the slate.
It’s not hard to see why fans are baffled. Year after year, Yoo Jae-suk dominates both TV and YouTube with relentless visibility. Baeksang considers content released from April 1, 2025, to March 31 of this year, and during that window, Yoo fronted MBC’s Hangout with Yoo, SBS’s Running Man, Whenever Possible, and tvN’s You Quiz on the Block. On YouTube, he’s kept massive buzz with Pinggyego and Punghyanggo. In particular, season 2 of Punghyanggo — which sent Yoo to Europe with Lee Sung-min, Ji Suk-jin, and Yang Se-chan — dropped five episodes, starting with 10.86 million views for episode one and now surpassing a combined 40 million views. The series even drew such strong interest that it was quickly scheduled on the ENA TV channel.
Online reactions since the Baeksang announcement have been explosive. Fans wrote, “They left out Pinggyego?”, “Is there any variety star with more buzz than Yoo Jae-suk?”, and “This makes no sense.” While those comments don’t represent every viewer, it’s clear that many variety fans fully expected to see Yoo’s name among the nominees.
That said, it wouldn’t be fair to slam Baeksang’s choices across the board. This year’s Male Variety lineup features fresh, digitally savvy faces like Kwak Beom and Kim Won-hoon, as well as figures like Kian84 and Choo Sung-hoon, who’ve made a strong impact with character-driven storytelling and genre expansion. The Variety Program category blends blockbuster hits with bold format experiments. Given Baeksang’s recent emphasis on platform expansion and format diversity, some see this as placing more weight on “new currents” over the “familiar center.” In fact, Baeksang has broadened its judging scope to include web content within the TV variety category.
Even so, Yoo Jae-suk’s absence feels unusually large — and not just because of fandom bias. Debuting in 1991, Yoo remains one of the defining names of Korean variety across broadcast, cable, and online more than 33 years later. On You Quiz on the Block, he’s steadied the ship as a solo host after Jo Se-ho’s departure, while Whenever Possible, has reached season 4 and cemented itself as a staple SBS variety. Running Man has been cited for a rebound after production changes, and Hangout with Yoo has reportedly found a turning point with Heo Kyung-hwan joining the cast. Against that backdrop, the complete absence of Yoo — and his shows — naturally fuels the interpretation that Baeksang intentionally underscored generational turnover and a wider shake-up.
Ultimately, the core issue isn’t just Yoo Jae-suk’s supposed “bad luck.” The real question is what Baeksang values most in today’s variety landscape: the steady influence of long-running anchors, or the breakout power of new formats and fresh faces. Yoo’s omission doesn’t automatically mean a judging error. But it undeniably leaves fans wondering, “Does this list really capture the best and the breadth of this year’s variety scene?”