K-Pop Daisuki - The Rumors and Scandals that plague the K-pop Industry
Last Update November 2024
Over the years, the K-Pop industry was hit by multiple rumors of varying degree, from the most simple of accusations (teenagers being teenager), to criminal actions. In this article, we examine 79 rumors (as of November 2024), how true they turned out to be, and the consequences for the artists involved. It is important to remember that these are just a sample of rumors over the years and that there were many more. Most lightweight dating rumors or random statements were left out because they usually have no consequence, and would require a big article to list them all. Let state this again: the random personal opinion taken too seriously, dating rumors, companies faux-pas, and anything that is actually nitpicking, is not part of this list, unless they resulted in excessive action, like a simple dating ending up with an Idol being kicked from their group. We won't get into the small fry rumor because people pay attention to such ridiculously small details that we would need an article per month if that were the case. Shame on the fans.
Also, events that were never actually a rumor but simply news, like Fifty Fifty controversy in 2023 or ADOR vs HYBE in 2024, are not included since they are not actually rumors, just events with (usually) sad repercussions to their victims (almost always the artists), and we will still cover this and other unfortunate events in the industry as "Industry Scandals" below
It is no news that the Idol industry is harsh on their artists. Idols are brands for marketing, to tag along with powerful brands that will sponsor or be endorsed by artists. A famous Idol wearing a fancy clothing can drive sales up, but a disgraced Idol can ruin a brand. For that reason, the industry, the fans and the companies involved in any rumor-hit artist enter emergency mode. Some will immediately dispose of the artist, considering that even if the rumors turn out to be false the damage is done and the artist lost his or her value; other companies will defend their artists until evidence of their ill-doing can be proved, to the great risk of any sponsor, or even the whole group the artist belongs to if that is the case.
Idols have always been supposed to be perfect, a person who represents only the good culture among their peers, that is pretty, talented and charismatic, someone who is a constant role model for their fans, an inspiration. As such, there has always been a certain level of scrutiny on their personal life, but not only that, on their past before they even started their training. Unfortunately, as time passes by, being just perfect and having a perfect past often proves to not be enough, and minor mischiefs done in your early teenage days are now also in the spotlight. It might not take long before an Idol who once pinched one of their kindergarten classmates to be damaged for life and labeled as a terrible bully.
A harsh life of constant training, abusive companies and excessive obsession and scrutiny by fans is the bane of the existence of Idols, and the lack of mental health support - especially on their early years - have caused irreparable damage to all too many young boys and girls who only had a dream about having their minute to shine but ended up being targets of never-ending witch-hunt where the goal sometimes is not only to defame and ruin their career as an Idol, but as a person.
Keep in mind that most bully or misbehaviors claims are often raised for when the artist were in middle-school, which means they were 10 to 14. Some Idols had their careers ruined by unproved rumors from when they were 12 or younger.
Also, a word of advice: Whenever you see an artist "Voluntarily leaving a group" with the company claiming they left on their own, it is a lie. The company pressured the artist implying they were damaging the group until they left, so the company could save face. No artist would end/ruin their career due to baseless accusations often knowing full well that in a few weeks/months things would be forgotten
Rates
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Rumors proved mostly true or true: 50/79 (63%)
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Rumors somewhat true: 63%
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Criminal or misdemeanor rumors proved true: 16/27 (59%)
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Criminal rumors proved true: 57%
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Idols permanently damaged by false (or unproved) rumors: 11/79 (14%)
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Analyzing the facts and conclusions
From all rumors listed on this article, about 2/3 are mostly or completely true. More often Male rumors turn out to be true than Female rumors, mostly because the most common accusation against females are bullying, which are either hard to prove, or just nitpicking from people who are bent on damaging someone they didn't like in school that turned out to be successful. There have been several instances of legal action against the alleged victim, but the results are seldom open to the public.
From all the rumors started, about a third (35%) are criminal or legal misdemeanors (which would not end up in jail time, usually just a fine or public apology). Notably, criminal charges are in their vast majority against males (92%), with a rate of 54% proven true or mostly true. From all scandals, 6 ended up in jail or probation, all involving male Idols. Males are also more prone to DUI events. The only serious accusations against females that were criminal were against Lee Gai (not her real name), for lying about her identity and age, even though it only resulted in her being fired, and G.na, for "promiscuity", which ended up in a settlement for being considered only partially true.
The most common innocent victims of minor or false accusations are female. A total of 11 out of 79 (14%) rumors that were false (or unproved) ended the artist career or even their life.
The most important conclusion we can take out of these numbers are these: While most of the rumors are based in some truth (63% of all rumors), few of them are serious (35% of all rumors), and even less of these are true (20% of all rumors). With only 20% of the rumors being serious and true, the rate of 14% of rumors being false and ruining careers is alarming. The industry and fans should wait until a full investigation is conducted and a proper conclusion is drawn before cursing and bullying artists that might end up being not only innocent, but actually being the victims of the bully. When someone not famous and young is convicted of defamation, the punishment is often small and seldom public, but the damage for an artist image is considerable and constant bullying from berated ignorant fans can even lead to serious mental health issues, with some artists ending up taking their own lives.
To put these career or life breaking consequences in perspective, from 3 artists that were seriously damaged, 1 was innocent. Would anyone agree that life sentences were given incorrectly to innocent people if the rate was 1/3? This article does not defend bad artists, it rather focuses on the ingrained idea that any rumor can and often does ruin people's life because of popular decision is brutal and show how uncivilized the world has come to be. Most of the cases, light rumors end up in a witch hunt regardless of its accuracy.
In the list below, check out the multiple artists hit by accusations of varying degree, how true they turned out to be, and the consequence to that artist life and career. Entries are in no particular reason. ( denotes serious crimes) Most simple dating rumors are not included because they are either impossible to prove/disprove, or happen outside the artistic world.
Industry Scandals
These are scandals that happened within the industry itself and the public were mostly passive watchers to the drama.
Loona vs Blockberry Creative
Cause: After Chuu's case against Blockberry Creative (BBC), all Loona members eventually started filing injunctions against BBC for similar reasons (Lack of transparency, treatment and general breach of contract). BBC denied any wrongdoing and eventually started a smear campaign against the members.
Outcome: ALL members eventually won their case against BBC.
Consequence: Despite BBC's worst attempts at damaging the artists, they eventually managed to secure contracts with other companies and continue their Idol/Singer activities either undamaged or empowered by their win.
Fifty Fifty vs ATTRAKT
Allegations: As "Cupid" reached unparalleled international success, rumors started that a third-party was trying to poach the girls out of ATTRAKT. Eventually, they successfully made Fifty Fifty's members minds into trying to sue their way out of ATTRAKT claiming they didn't earn their share in the success and mistreatment
Outcome: The third-party turned out to be the partner (the Irony is not lost here) company of ATTRAKT, "The Givers", who manipulated both the books (They registered the copyrights of Cupit to them, with nothing to ATTRAKT) and the members into trying to leave ATTRAKT. Files proved that not only ATTRAKT did all their obligations, with the CEO even giving them extra time, also that they hadn't earned back the investment on the members (And therefore they are not yet eligible to profits), and after they refused to cooperate with a mediation (which would certainly end with ATTRAKT win and further expose The Givers), their injunction was dismissed, and eventually ATTRAKT was able to terminate the contracts due to the members breaching it (except Keena who backed out).
Consequence: The 3 remaining members who insisted (all but Keena) lost all appeals and had their contracts terminated with them, not ATTRAKT, to pay for break of contract fees. As of August 2024 they announced they will try to start a new group in another company. "The Givers" had all accusations proved and fowarded to justice, where some prison time might end up happening.
ADOR's CEO vs HYBE
Allegations: HYBE initiated an internal audit and eventually legal case against sub-label ADOR's CEO Min Hee Jin due to stock manipulation, company overtake plans and media manipulation.
Outcome: Ongoing, with Min Hee Jin accusing HYBE of favoritism among their sub-labels (involving Le Sserafim and Illit), and HYBE accusing her of trying to start a public manipulation campaign to overtake and break ADOR away from HYBE. The case has been fowarded to the Police and doesn't look good to Min Hee Jin (as of November 2024). Min Hee also released industry secrets that were protected behind NDA's in multiple press conferences, causing her to be target of legal action from other companies. Min Hee Jin was eventually removed from ADOR, and is currently being sued by multiple parties. Unfortunatelly, the group members decided to protect her and even force HYBE to roll back all accusations, which makes them also likelly to be punished. Illit suffered the most with the accusations, with their manager being accused of ordering them to mistreat New Jeans members during a chance encounter.
Consequence: Ongoing, with image damage to all three groups involved (New Jeans, Le Sserafim and Illit), legal cases against high-ranking executives of ADOR (Min Hee Jin) and HYBE, as well problably either severe damage to New Jeans to even disbandment (as of November 2024)
143 Ent's CEO vs Gaeun (MADEIN)
Allegations: A "Rookie group member" reported that, as she tried to leave her group, she was sexually assaulted by the CEO.
Outcome: Ongoing, the rookie member is speculated to be Gaeun from MADEIN, since she recently left the group and all descriptions of the case match. She claims that when she asked the CEO to leave the group, he asked for a favor in return: a day as his girlfriend. He then forced her into a kiss and touched her.
Consequence: Ongoing.
Rumors that turned out to be true
Hyuna
Allegations: Active Dating with company-mate (Dawn)
Outcome: Admitted
Consequence: Kicked out of company (Hyuna)
Dawn (Pentagon)
Allegations: Active Dating with company-mate
Outcome: Admitted
Consequence: Kicked out of company and group
B.I (iKON)
Allegations: Drug purchase/use
Outcome: Admitted
Consequence: "Decided" to leave group
Jung Joonyoung a.k.a. JJY (Drug Restaurant)
Allegations: Participating in illegal (sexual) chatrooms, rape (The JJY scandal)
Outcome: Proved, sentenced to 6 years in prison
Consequence: Jail
Seungri (Big Bang)
Allegations: Mediating prostitution, gambling, embezzlement, sharing sexual images
Outcome: Sentenced and admitted to all (mediating prostitution cleared), 18 months in prison from 3 years sentence
Consequence: Jail
Jimin (AOA)
Allegations: Active bully of group member Mina for nearly 10 years
Outcome: Admitted (Studio also apologized)
Consequence: Left group after end of her contract and attempted solo
Choi Jonghoon (FTIsland)
Allegations: Participating in illegal (sexual) chatrooms (JJY scandal), rape, then DUI
Outcome: Proved for all, sentenced to 5 years in prison
Consequence: Jail
Hwayoung (T-ara)
Allegations: Spreading rumors that she was being bullied by the other members
Outcome: It was actually the inverse, she was the bully
Consequence: Kicked from group
Youngmin (AB6IX)
Allegations: DUI
Outcome: Proved
Consequence: "Decided" to leave group
Jessica (Girls' Generation)
Allegations: Breaking contract by doing solo branding and activities
Outcome: Proved (undisputed)
Consequence: Kicked from company and group
Kris Wu (EXO)
Allegations: Outburst against own studio, then sexual harassment and rape
Outcome: Partially ruined his career with lawsuits against SM, then proved to be a sexual predator. In November 2022 (after over a year already in prison in China), was sentenced to 13 years for multiple counts of rape
Consequence: Jail
Hyunjin (Stray Kids)
Allegations: Minor bully in middle-school
Outcome: Admitted
Consequence: Short hiatus
Irene (Red Velvet)
Allegations: Outbursts against editors and stylists
Outcome: Admitted, victims accepted apology
Consequence: Little damage to the group image, recovered
Amber (f(x))
Allegations: Racist comments about a police officer
Outcome: True, apologized
Consequence: Happened after the group was in hiatus/disbanded
Chen (EXO)
Allegations: Got married
Outcome: True
Consequence: Went inactive but not removed from group
T.O.P. (Big Bang)
Allegations: Marijuana use, suicide attempt
Outcome: Admitted
Consequence: Slowly drifted out of the industry until returning in 2022
G-Dragon (Big Bang)
Allegations: Marijuana use
Outcome: Admitted
Consequence: No consequence
Wheesung
Allegations: Drug use/multiple suicide attempts
Outcome: True
Consequence: Inactive since 2020
Key (SHINee)
Allegations: Fat-shamed KARA's Nicole
Outcome: True, Nicole claimed to not mind and even thanked him for being his "muse"
Consequence: No consequence
Nature (Whole group)
Allegations: Cultural appropriation with the "Rica Rica" MV
Outcome: Technically true, apologized
Consequence: Went into a long hiatus before returning.
Heechul (Super Junior)
Allegations: Multiple different dating rumors at different times
Outcome: True
Consequence: Very minor damage each time, but no real damage
Shindong (Super Junior)
Allegations: Fat-shaming, blackface
Outcome: True, apologized for the fat-shaming and has become advocate for plus-sized women
Consequence: Minor damage to group
Siwon (Super Junior)
Allegations: Multiple homophobic comments
Outcome: True, has apologized for not being "sensitive" but kept insisting homosexual people don't exist and are sinners
Consequence: No consequence
Sungmin (Super Junior)
Allegations: Got married
Outcome: True
Consequence: Inactive since 2015
Henry (Super Junior-M)
Allegations: Became an anti-bullying ambassador (yes, this is the accusation), left group
Outcome: True, Fans became furious as he wasn't of Korean ancestry and became a Korean anti-bullying ambassador (kind of the point isn't it?)
Consequence: Major damage to his own image for being non-Korean, minor damage for choosing to leave the group
Zhoumi (Super Junior-M)
Allegations: Made light of different earthquakes that hit Taiwan and China and killed many people, saying the earthquakes were non-deadly and just "playing"
Outcome: True, Hangeng apologized for him immediately after he spoke
Consequence: No consequence
Leeteuk (Super-Junior)
Allegations: Slid into the DMs of some fans, fat-shamed other idols
Outcome: True, apologized for the flirting
Consequence: Minor damage to group
Yesung (Super Junior)
Allegations: Blackface, fat-shaming
Outcome: True
Consequence: No consequence
Donghae (Super Junior)
Allegations: Brownface
Outcome: True
Consequence: No consequence
Kyuhyun (Super Junior)
Allegations: Racist comments
Outcome: True
Consequence: No consequence
EPEX (whole group)
Allegations: A title track was all about Kristallnacht (Holocaust event)
Outcome: True, apologized, changed the lyrics slightly
Consequence: Minor damage to the group
Moon Moon
Allegations: Secretly recorded women in bathrooms, lied about criminal record
Outcome: True, only "partly" admitted but there's video evidence proving it
Consequence: Two year probation, signed with a new company during the probation without telling them, new company dropped him
Wonwoo (Seventeen)
Allegations: Online bullying when he was a kid
Outcome: True, apologized
Consequence: Hiatus
Hongseok (Pentagon)
Allegations: Had secret "Lovestagram" account with girlfriend, online bullying, regifting fan gifts
Outcome: True, company apologized since he was still a trainee
Consequence: Damaged personal image, was at a different company so didn't affect current group
Hui (Pentagon)
Allegations: Dating
Outcome: Admitted to but was swept aside due to concurrent Hyuna/Dawn dating "scandal"
Consequence: No consequence
Shownu (Monsta X)
Allegations: Had an affair with a married woman, ended relationship immediately when he found out she was married
Outcome: True, was dragged out by the same person accusing Wonho, was overshadowed by his own scandal and ignored
Consequence: No consequence
Yuchun (JYJ)
Allegations: Accused by four women of sexual assault in 2016/2017, in 2019 was charged for purchasing/using meth and destroying evidence, in 2021 claimed company was embezzling funds from him
Outcome: Sexual assault cases dismissed (one proven falsified), drug charges proven true, embezzlement claim proven falsified
Consequence: Ten month probation and two year suspension for drug charges proven true, banned from appearing on TV after embezzlement claims proven false, kicked from group
Jaejoong (JYJ)
Allegations: Lied about having COVID-19, swore at and physically attacked female fans who followed him
Outcome: True
Consequence: Hiatus
Baek Jiyoung
Allegations: Leaked sex tape with ex-manager
Outcome: True, management tried to blackmail her with the tape when she tried to change management, the tape leaked
Consequence: Severe damage to her career (~5 year hiatus), since the recording was non-consensual, the manager fled to the US where he did it again with a minor and ended up arrested.
RUX (The whole group)
Allegations: During a live broadcast, invited guests removed their clothes and for 5 seconds live TV broadcast them nude
Outcome: Obviously true, was live TV.
Consequence: The band main vocalist and the two guests were arrested for indecency, the band ruined, the TV show was canceled and Korean Broadcasting laid heavy measures on broadcasting to prevent future events
Ravi (VIXX)
Allegations: Mislead the Army to evade mandatory service
Outcome: Proven true (it's complicated), he used an intermediate inside the army to give him low scores, which cleared him from service. Due to him requesting postponent of service and later serving as a social worker, the subject took time to come to light
Consequence:"Left" the group. Military court sentenced him to 1 year suspended prison sentence, but received 2 years of probation and 120 hours of community service instead. He also proposed to serve a second time to avoid a worst sentence.
Somyi (Dia)
Allegations: She accused her CEO of sexual assault, when Police dismissed it, she filed an appeal, and police proved it was false using CCTV footage.
Outcome: The accusations were proven false, which is a serious crime.
Consequence: For the crime of false accusation of a serious crime and false statements (during the investigation), she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Soyeon ((G)I-dle)
Allegations: She "added" a few rap lines on live presentations saying "fuck that, my contract ends in november". It was mostly just some random joke but Cube Ent. took offense and decided to complain in public
Outcome: She showed that her manager and people in Cube knew about the changes. Eventually, it also came to light it was true (her contract did end in November).
Consequence: It only put a highlight in the fact that her contract would end in November, and then reporters released information that she was looking for another company which basically means Cube came out as the bad guys (not new for anyone). In fact, all members of (G)I-dle at the time were already known to be leaning about not renewing.
Rumors that turned out to be partially true
Hangeng (Super Junior)
Allegations: Foreign illegal performing
Outcome: True
Consequence:Law eventually was rewritten and changed to allow foreigners to show their faces without persecution, but he left the group/company
Jay Park (2Pm)
Allegations: Leaked MYSpace messages that were negative towards South Korea
Outcome: Partial true (some messages were taken out of context)
Consequence: Kicked from group
Lee Jonghyun (CNBLUE)
Allegations: Participating in illegal (sexual) chatrooms (JJY scandal), then active bully
Outcome: Both proved, but not serious participation on JJY
Consequence:"Decided" to leave group
Daisy (Momoland)
Allegations: Revealed a few closed-door secrets behind MLD (Finding Momoland contest was rigged)
Outcome: Probably true, MLD kicked her out of the group but held her over her contract, preventing her from working
Consequence: Kicked from group and pretty much blackmailed by company (she was charged an unreal amount of money if she wanted to break the contract, so she had to stay but the company didn't give her any work)
IU / Eunhyuk (Super Junior)
Allegations: Dating rumors after IU accidentally uploaded a picture of them in her bed
Outcome: Denied. IU was sick and among people who went to check on her was him, but the reason for the quick accidental picture was never clarified
Consequence: Mostly just uproar but no real effect
G.na
Allegations: Prostitution (received money for "dating" a rich foreigner)
Outcome: Partially proven, she received benefits indirectly and didn't know full extent of it. Paid fine.
Consequence: Career ruined
Kangin (Super Junior)
Allegations:2x DUI hit-and-run, 2x Assault charges
Outcome: DUI's proved, 1 Assault charge dropped as self-defense, other dropped as the victim didn't want to press charges
Consequence: After second DUI was put on "temporary" hiatus, which eventually turned permanent due to second assault charge.
Lia (ITZY)
Allegations: Minor bully in middle-school
Outcome: Contested, no firm proof either way
Consequence: Little damage to the group image, recovered, but later she had anxiety issues and entered long hiatus.
Rumors that turned out to be false/never proved
Chuu (LOONA)
Allegations: Made a new contract with another studio, then opened her own studio, while still under contract with LOONA's company
Outcome: She never opened her own studio, and she made the new contract with a new studio AFTER Blockberry didn't pay the members in breach of contract
Consequence: Kicked out of LOONA, but later several LOONA members also left due to the breach of contract (ill intent and lack of payment). Chuu won the lawsuit, proving Blockberry broke the contract first. The others members also won their cases too and created two new groups (ARTMS and Loossemble).
Ravn (Oneus)
Allegations: Asking money from Girlfriend (while together), Having forced sex with drunken girl, threatening to kill ex-girlfriend (to then current Girlfriend while drunk)
Outcome: The accuser dropped random audio messages out of context implying all the above. To any intelligent mind, seemed mostly like random out-of-context rants and fantasy that people have when stressed or drunken (this "scandal" is still ongoing)
Consequence: Left group
Kim Garam (Le SSerafim)
Allegations: Severe Bully in middle-school, alcohol and cigarette use
Outcome: Bully never proved (a document detailing a severe punishment against her when she was 10 years old never revealed the reasons for it other than she cursing/yelling at a colleague), accusers withdrew after she was kicked from group, became a your-word/my-word situation with the alleged victims staying quiet after she was kicked out. Misbehaviors unproved even though all of the allegations (including bully) were when she was 10~11 years old. Garam confessed to cursing at the "victim" because she found out he was taking pictures of Juniors under their skirts
Consequence: Kicked from group "to preserve her" from the backslash, despite being mostly false.
Jennie (Blackpink)
Allegations: Being lazy and non-committed to their live performances
Outcome: For some reason YG didn't inform beforehand that she had an ankle injurie, that was not even new and had caused problems before. Basically, idols being overstressed by their companies yet again.
Consequence: No consequence
Wonho (Monsta X)
Allegations: Owing money to girlfriend, stealing from her
Outcome: Allegations retracted after causing damage
Consequence: Left group
Soojin ((G)I-dle)
Allegations: Mild Bully in middle-school / dated Pentagon's Hui when they were not supposed to date
Outcome: Unproven but admitted for the event that took place but she was innocent (and deemed innocent by the school at the time too). A year later she was still suing her accuser and decided to drop it because it became a your-word/my-word situation even though most actual proofs were on her side.
Consequence: Kicked from group after things cleared. Eventually managed to debut solo successfuly
Kang Sunghoon (Sechskies)
Allegations: Embezzlement of fan club money
Outcome: Allegations were correct but the fan club manager who embezzled
Consequence: "Decided" to leave group
Yong Junhyung (Highlight)
Allegations: Participating in illegal (sexual) chatrooms (JJY scandal)
Outcome: Unproven
Consequence: "Decided" to leave group
Woojin (Stray kids)
Allegations: Sexual Assault (twice)
Outcome: Unproven
Consequence: Kicked out of group
Sulli (f(x))
Allegations: Strong personality and combative against critics
Outcome: Ended up committing suicide due to constant bully
Consequence: Happened after group was in hiatus/disbanded
Go Hara (Kara)
Allegations: N/A
Outcome: Ended up committing suicide after bully based on her ongoing legal battle with abusive/blackmail boyfriend (found guilty later) / bullying based around her being a "slut" because she had been in multiple relationships
Consequence: Happened after group was in hiatus/disbanded. Her mother tried to get her inheritance although she was never present, in 2024 the justice denied her.
Lee Hyunjoo (April)
Allegations: Her brother raised the issue of her being bullied by APRIL members
Outcome: charges and accusations dismissed by both sides (her brother seems to have based the issue in rumors)
Consequence: Happened while the group was in hiatus/disbanded, prevented it from ever returning
Daesung (Big Bang)
Allegations: Car accident ended up killing a motorcyclist
Outcome: Motorcyclist died 3 minutes prior to the accident having hit a lamppost by himself, Daesung's accident didn't cause his death
Consequence: Hiatus
Park Bom (2NE1)
Allegations: Drug use/trafficking
Outcome: Dismissed (improper prescription drug handling)
Consequence: Short hiatus
Yunhyeong (iKon)
Allegations: Minor Bully in middle-school
Outcome: Mostly dismissed
Consequence:N/A
Kim Sohye (IOI)
Allegations: Minor Bully in middle-school
Outcome :Dismissed
Consequence: N/A
Mingyu (Seventeen)
Allegations: Moderate Bully in middle-school
Outcome: Dismissed
Consequence: Short hiatus
Sunwoo (The Boyz)
Allegations: Moderate Bully in middle-school
Outcome: Dismissed
Consequence: N/A
Chuu (LOONA)
Allegations: Mild Bully in middle-school
Outcome: Retracted
Consequence: Lingering damage to the point an BBC article in 2022 talked about it despite the subject being over for some time
Kihyun (Monsta X)
Allegations: Severe Bully in middle-school
Outcome: Proved false
Consequence: N/A
Aisha (Everglow)
Allegations: Mild bully in middle-school
Outcome: Retracted/dismissed
Consequence: N/A
Woonggi (TOO)
Allegations: Moderate bully in middle-school
Outcome: Dismissed
Consequence: N/A
The Rose (Whole group)
Allegations: Used pictures from Jonghyun's (deceased) instagram in an MV about suicide
Outcome: True, but the editor's of the music video were to blame instead
Consequence: Minor damage to group
Eunhyuk (Super Junior)
Allegations: Some people claim he crept into a girl's dorm predebut with TVXQ's Junsu and touched some girls while they slept
Outcome: Unproven, no charges or allegations presented against him
Consequence: N/A
XIA (JYJ)
Allegations: Allegations that he didn't pay the workers of the Toscana Hotel he owned, was sued by the workers
Outcome: False, he had sold the hotel before the allegations arose and won the court case
Consequence: N/A
Soyeon ((G)I-dle)
Allegations: Minor Bully in middle-school
Outcome: Dismissed
Consequence: N/A
Dasom (Sistar)
Allegations: Minor Bully in middle-school, alcohol and cigarette use
Outcome: Lack of evidence, dismissed
Consequence: N/A
Soyou (Sistar)
Allegations: Clubbing, alcohol use in middle-school
Outcome: There was never a witness or evidence, it spread mostly as a lie mouth-to-mouth among Sistar fans. Dismissed
Consequence: She recalls she lost self-stem from the accusations and backslash for years
Lee Jihye (S#arp)
Allegations: See Jiyoung, daugther of the studio owner and member of the group, claimed Lee Jihye being a bully was the reason S#arp was about to disband
Outcome: See Jiyoung paid her manager to corroborate her story at a press conference, but he did the opposite and revealed a whole history of systemic bully from See Jiyoung, her parents and her boyfriend towards Lee Jihye, only because she was the main vocal and See Jiyoung wanted her gone so that she would rule the group.
Consequence: Once the media got suspicious and the manager came clean, Seo Jiyoung got into disgrace but got no punishment since she was rich (and ended up marrying a rich man) but never recovered as an artist. She still managed to do continuing damage to Lee Jihye much later, ruining her career and mental health.
Hwarang (Tempest)
Allegations: Going clubbing, not reporting his activities to the company, releasing personal information on social media
Outcome: For a while he was put on Hiatus.
Consequence: As a new comeback was coming in, Yuehua Entertainment decided to terminate his contract (basically kick him out) despite not offering any insight on why, so most rumors stayed just as that, rumors.
Sources: Too many to mention, the biggest ones can be found here (some minor rumors were not used in this article because they were nonsensical or barely known to call them a rumor, Like IU's Zezé rumor):
https://seoulspace.com/the-biggest-scandals-in-kpop-history-complete-breakdown/
https://www.insider.com/controversial-k-pop-scandals-since-2013-2020-2
https://otakukart.com/kpop-scandals-that-shook-the-entire-industry/
https://www.koreaboo.com/news/bullying-scandals-rundown/
A few fellow members of KMQ helped with this article.
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