Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ faces criticism over treatment of Yerin Ha

Fans raise concerns that Korean Australian actor Yerin Ha, a lead in Season 4 of Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” is facing racial bias in promotions for the show. Captured from Netflix Spain social media

Concerns about representation in global television franchises have gained renewed attention after fans questioned the visibility of Korean Australian actor Yerin Ha in promotional material for the fourth season of Netflix’s “Bridgerton.”

The criticism emerged after Netflix Spain shared photographs from a promotional event held on Feb. 18, featuring Luke Thompson, Hannah Dodd and Ha. Some viewers argued the framing appeared to foreground Dodd, who plays Francesca Bridgerton, rather than the season’s central romantic pairing of Thompson and Ha.

Attention also focused on a promotional video in which Ha was seated at the edge. She was not visible in vertically cropped versions designed for social platforms, leaving only Thompson and Dodd in frame. Spanish newspaper ABC further fuelled discussion after misspelling her name as “Yern Ha.”

Fans are increasingly worried that Ha is facing racism from Netflix.

Ha is a Korean Australian actor who has appeared in works including the series “Halo.” She is also the granddaughter of veteran Korean actor Sohn Sook.

In an earlier interview with the Hankook Ilbo, Ha said watching her grandmother’s theater performances first sparked her dream of becoming an actor.

“She once told me she wanted people to say not that Yerin Ha is Sohn Sook’s granddaughter, but that she herself is Yerin Ha’s grandmother,” she said, adding that she takes pride in her Korean heritage.

She is currently appearing as a romantic lead in “Bridgerton,” a Netflix series set in the English Regency period and follows the eight siblings of the Bridgerton family as they navigate love and marriage.