Korea’s entertainment industry has been tainted with ongoing school violence scandals. And today, another female idol has been fingered as a school perpetrator; ITZY’s Lia. JYP Entertainment released its official position about the issue.
On Feb 24, a netizen A posted an article titled “I’m the victim of school bullying of a famous female idol who was born in 2000” on an online community. In her posting, A claimed that the idol borrowed money from her and never paid back and that the idol spread bad rumors about her behind her back. According to her allegations, not only did A became an outcast because of her, but she also had to suffer from constant anxiety when the idol bad-mouthed A on a social media platform.
A then added that she posted a similar article when she heard that the school bully was going to debut as a major label’s new girl group in April 2018, but was sued for defamation and spreading false rumors.
Though the writer didn’t specify the idol, netizens speculated her to be ITZY’s Lia based on the information given in the writing.
The following is JYP Entertainment’s official statement.
“Hello, this is JYP Entertainment. We’d like to inform you of our position on the article that suggests our artist, Lia. This case is under ongoing investigation after we sued the writer for defamation by spreading false information last year, and we inform you that we are waiting for the result according to legal procedures. The claims are completely false, and we plan to take strong legal action against malicious comments, false information, and other acts that undermine the reputation of artists and hinder their activities.”
