Scott Kang Addresses Backlash: Clarifies “That” Comment Towards Paik Jong-won on Culinary Class Wars

On October 18, 2024, Triple Star (Scott Kang), a contestant from the Culinary Class Wars, featured as a special guest on the YouTube channel of renowned South Korean chef Paik Jong-won. For those unfamiliar, Triple Star placed among the Top 3 contestants in the acclaimed Netflix series, which aired from September 17 through October 8, 2024, with judges including Paik Jong-won and Ahn Sung-jae.

During his appearance on Paik Jong-won’s show, Triple Star discussed receiving negative comments from Korean netizens regarding his remarks towards Paik. He had implied that as a celebrity chef and restaurant franchise owner known for affordable meals, it was questionable whether Paik would appreciate the dish he had prepared.

Unfortunately, due to selective editing, only part of Triple Star’s statement was broadcast, leading to viewers interpreting it as mockery towards Paik Jong-won’s culinary expertise. To address the controversy, Paik Jong-won opened a recent episode of his cooking blog discussing the issue. Triple Star clarified his comments by stating,

“After I made that comment saying ‘I wonder if he’ll understand my cooking,’ I added ‘and he did, which made me really happy.’ But that part was edited.”

Paik Jong-won stated that the editing team from Culinary Class Wars was responsible for the misinterpretation that resulted in backlash against Scott Kang. He humorously suggested that Kang might consider suing the editors if an appropriate apology wasn’t forthcoming.

Culinary Class Wars Set for a Second Season

Netflix has officially announced the renewal of Culinary Class Wars for a second season. As reported by Variety, the decision came from the show’s producers, Kim Hak-min and Kim Eun-ji, alongside writer Mo Eun-sol from Studio Slam. Remarkably, the series topped Netflix’s Global Top 10 TV (Non-English) list as the first Korean unscripted program for three consecutive weeks.

Culinary Class Wars features 100 elite chefs divided into two tiers: black spoons representing the non-celebrity chefs and white spoons denoting the celebrity chefs. The competition has a cash prize of 300 million Korean won (approximately $230,000). Initially, 80 black spoon chefs battled in the first round, from which only 20 advanced to the subsequent stage.

In contrast, the 20 distinguished white spoon chefs automatically proceeded to the second round due to their well-established global acclaim. The competition was judged by chef Ahn Sung-jae, the only Michelin three-star chef in Korea and owner of MOSU SEOUL, along with Paik Jong-won, a seasoned restaurateur and well-known celebrity chef.

The final showdown featured white spoon chef Edward Lee (Lee Kyun) competing against black spoon chef Napoli Matfia (Kwon Sung-jun), with Napoli Matfia ultimately claiming the title. Although Triple Star (Scott Kang) reached the Top 3, he was eliminated before the finals.

Culinary Class Wars is accessible for global streaming on Netflix, with a total of 12 episodes available for viewers to enjoy.

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