Less than a month after making her debut, Kim Ga-ram of rookie lady group Le Sserafim halted all her actions as bullying allegations in opposition to her escalated.
On May 20, the sextet’s administration firm Source Music introduced the singer’s non permanent suspension through the group’s fan group platform Weverse.
“After discussing with Kim Ga-ram, she will take a break to ease her mind…. Le Sserafim will continue its activities as a five-piece act until she returns,” the official assertion learn.
The determination comes a month after a number of on-line customers, claiming to be her former classmates, alleged that Kim had bullied classmates who didn’t deal with her properly throughout center college and accused her of underage smoking.
But as Kim’s allegations proceed to floor, extra individuals have lambasted the corporate’s response to the bullying controversy.
The company has denied all allegations and stated it would take authorized motion in opposition to these spreading false data with “malicious intent”.
“If you are going to sign an artiste, you need to know the good, the bad and the ugly, if there are. Nurture your artistes. Don’t erase their past,” one fan wrote on Twitter anonymously.
Another fan stated the company’s denial solely served to get well the singer’s broken popularity.
“Companies try to patch up the situation by denying. But I think they should be punished for protecting the wrongdoers, and celebrities must not be allowed to appear on television since an indefinite hiatus is the biggest punishment one can get,” 14-year-old Namgung Yu-jin stated.
The firm’s denial has prompted extra claims to floor.
Last week, an nameless consumer uploaded a new image on-line accusing the rookie singer of being a perpetrator of college violence. The doc confirmed that a committee was known as to take care of the case and advisable measures to take care of the offender, who was named as “Grade 1 Class 3 Kim Ga-ram”. Experts stated agencies ought to take further care when responding to bullying rumours and resist the urge to sweep every part beneath the rug to defend their artistes.
Noh Yuun-ho, a lawyer who specialises in class bullying instances, stated leisure firms want to study to take care of it in a delicate method.
“It’s understandable that companies respond this way because they need to keep their businesses going, but they shouldn’t make it hard for victims to come forward.
“If they continue to respond in silence or take legal action, the voices of the victims will never be heard,” Noh stated.
“There’s no exact answer in handling the allegations, but companies must accept the singer’s wrongdoing first and later help the victims recover from the past and deliver a sincere apology by taking full responsibility.”In Korea, the place followers usually maintain K-pop singers and celebrities in excessive regard and count on them to have pristine data, previous bullying scandals have put some singers’ careers on brakes, with agencies fearful that they’d be indefinitely “canceled”.
Contradicting feedback
K-pop agencies’ denial technique has backfired earlier than.Last yr, Soo-jin of (G)I-dle was embroiled in a comparable scandal.
Cube Entertainment, then Soo-jin’s company, had initially denied the accusations in opposition to the singer and stated it would take authorized motion in opposition to those that unfold false rumors.But two days after the report broke out, Soo-jin took to the band’s official fan cafe and opened up concerning the allegations.
The singer admitted that she had smoked a few occasions in class prior to now, though she dismissed claims of committing violence. The backlash in opposition to the label’s denial was swift, main Soo-jin to depart from the band and the corporate.
Hyun-jin of boy band Stray Kids, after the company’s denial, additionally admitted to rumours that he had been verbally abusive to his friends throughout center college. He uploaded a prolonged handwritten apology on Instagram, proudly owning up to his previous errors.
“Whether it was intended or not, I don’t think I can be forgiven at all for giving unforgettable pain to someone,” he wrote, admitting that he didn’t understand how to be thoughtful about his actions and probably harm different individuals’s emotions.
An official on the Blue Tree Foundation, an establishment for victims of college violence, stated K-pop labels want to do higher in dealing with such public relations crises.
“Victims revisit their painful memories through public disclosure, but agencies try to dismiss the scandal by saying there’s a lack of proof since it’s hard to look into a case that occurred before debut.
“This could hurt the victims and be secondary crime victimisation,” the official stated.
“The victims wouldn’t have to go through hard times if companies had properly addressed the allegations in the first place.
“Agencies should listen to the voices of the victims, not celebrities who belong under them.” – The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
