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'Penthouse' Season 3 continues to dominate ratings amid cultural appropriation scandal

Entertainment | Celebrities

'Penthouse' Season 3 continues to dominate ratings amid cultural appropriation scandal

By Angie Chui

Penthouse” Season 3 continued to dominate the ratings for its timeslot even amid an onslaught of criticism for introducing a character accused of cultural appropriation.

According to an AC Nielsen survey, “Penthouse” Season 3 maintained its No. 1 position for its second episode which aired last Friday. The show scored an average of 15.2 percent, 17.5 percent, and 17.5 percent for its three parts.

“Imitation” maintained its 0.7 rating while “Undercover” scored 3.9 percent for its second to the last episode.

It can be recalled that the production of “Penthouse” Season 3 was recently criticized for their racist portrayal of a new character on their show.

The role of Alex, played by Korean actor Park Eun Seok, was accused of cultural appropriation when he appeared as a character with dreadlocks and spoke with an accent of an African-American.

International fans of the show slammed the portrayal as disrespectful and racist.

For his part, the actor immediately apologized to the fans and said that his attempt to convey his admiration of black culture was construed as cultural appropriation.

"I'd like to apologize to the people who took offense by the character's appearance. It was more admiration of the culture than mockery, but now I'm aware that the approach was more CA," he said, as he acknowledged that his role was a wrong attempt for character development.

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