TVBS' "11 O'Clock Shop" caused controversy by imitating political figures. The program team clarified that the homophonic name brand was not broadcast.

[Reporter Xiao Fangqi/Reporting from Taipei] The nine-in-one election campaign has entered the countdown stage. The election craze has extended to the entertainment industry, but the TV station has erupted in imitation controversy. The TVBS variety show "Hot Shop at 11 O'Clock" recently invited artists to imitate politicians to play English games. Unexpectedly, when Yixiang imitated Shen Boyang, he initially posted a homophonic name brand "Shen Neck Itch". The photo was leaked first and went viral instantly. A large number of netizens questioned that it was deliberately "vilifying and dwarfing the candidate." TVBS urgently clarified today.

Yixiang didn't have a word card with him during the show. He marked it on the screen afterwards. (Reproduced from YT)

TVBS issued a statement emphasizing that the program is based on variety entertainment, using interesting pseudonyms and games to increase the effect. The broadcast content includes "Jiang Good Night", "Shen Boyang", "Lu Showyan", "Korean Fish", "Xiao Meiqin", etc. It also pointed out that "the name nominated in the report (Shen Neck Itch) did not appear in the program", emphasizing that the overall content is "purely for variety show creativity and entertainment effect."

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The incident originated on the day of the recording. Yixiang posted a photo on the social platform with the actor Chen Delie who imitated Jiang Wanan (pseudonym "Good Night Jiang"). In the photo, Chen Delie was tall and handsome, but Yixiang was wearing a "Shen Neck Itch" brand. The malicious homophony immediately attracted strong criticism from netizens, scolding the program crew for being cheap and pretending to be funny, and "garbage shows have begun to use slanderous means to win elections."

The five artists who impersonated political figures in the show sat down for almost the entire show. (Reproduced from YT)

Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Yixiang hurriedly changed the photos and removed the controversial name tag. When the program was officially broadcast, the subtitles silently changed to the seemingly harmless "Shen Boyang". It is reported that the initial discussion of the name was just for fun. Before the official broadcast, it was decided to change it to the homonym of "cute route". Moreover, this episode was recorded at 11 o'clock in the morning last Thursday and was broadcast that night. It was not "an emergency to stop the bleeding when you smell the wind direction" as netizens claimed.

The first photo of Yixiang (right) showed the names and tags he and Derek Chan imitated. After being criticized by netizens, he removed the tags. (Photo taken from Facebook)

In addition to the homophonic humiliation in the text, the taller Chen Delie imitating Jiang Wanan and the relatively short Yixiang imitating Shen Boyang were also questioned by the outside world as deliberately "dwarfing" the candidates visually. The program team seemed quite helpless about this, saying that the two of them sat down for almost the entire recording. Even if there were standing clips, they were not deliberately placed together for comparison, and they were not making a fuss about their height.

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