Since it’s a little long, a summary of the allegations arising is under a cut:
On February 20, Soojin’s middle school classmate and her older sister wrote posts online about Soojin’s alleged bullying in middle school. Some of the accusations were that Soojin had slapped the classmate, sent out a group text to make her an outcast, taken other students’ belongings, and more.
The next day, Cube Entertainment said in an official statement that while Soojin had gotten in an argument with the classmate and her sister, claims of school violence were not true. The agency firmly stated that they would be taking legal action against false rumors.
Following Cube Entertainment’s statement, another alleged middle school classmate of Soojin’s posted on Twitter and accused Soojin of smoking and taking other students’ money and belongings.
In another post from February 3, a different person claimed that Soojin had also bullied actress Seo Shin Ae, who also attended the same middle school, by calling her names, cursing at her, and making up rumors to cause fights between Seo Shin Ae and others. On February 22, Seo Shin Ae wrote in her Instagram Stories, “None of your excuse,” in English. The timing of the post led to speculation that the actress was addressing Cube Entertainment’s statement.
On February 22, Soojin wrote on (G)I-DLE’s official fan community to speak about the rumors. Read her full post below:
“Hello. This is Soojin.
I am writing this after giving it a lot of thought.
During my school days, I was someone who always stood out, and there were bad rumors about me. I dressed in a way inappropriate for my duties as a student and have smoked cigarettes a few times out of curiosity.
I strayed in my childhood, and ever since then, I did not smoke. Even if I have corrected myself and gotten better, I believe it is all because I clearly behaved in a shameful way that this is the outcome today.
But there is something I really feel wrongly accused of. I have always dismissed bad rumors without much thought, but after seeing many fans having a hard time, I would like to put everything down and tell you my story.
You may or may not believe me, but I will say everything I remember.
I believe I was really friends with the person who posted today. I remember having a meal at that friend’s house and watching a movie with her and her older sister. I remember the older sister who wrote the post as someone I was thankful for. When I had received a threatening text from a school senior and was having a hard time, she tried to report it to the police. I always felt grateful towards her.
I found out through the post about why that friend tried to distance herself from me. From what I remember, the reason behind the fight was because she had broken a promise. She did it several times, and I remember I was angry about that. I did not know she was trying to distance herself from me. Although it is embarrassing to admit, I remember cursing at her as well. At that moment, her older sister took over the call and scolded me. Then I apologized to the older sister and hung up.
Since then, my friend and I grew distant and most likely harbored negative feelings about each other.
However, I’d like to clarify what was said in the posts.
First, I have never inflicted bodily harm on the friend.
Second, I have never ridden a motorcycle.
Third, I have never sent a group text message to make someone an outcast.
Fourth, I have never taken other people’s uniforms or stolen things from them.
Fifth, I have never spoken with actress Seo Shin Ae during my days in school. I apologize to her as it appears that she has been negatively affected by this incident.
I really do not remember the incident with the juice. I apologize, but I believe that I would not have done something like that.
I apologize for causing an uproar with my personal life. I apologize to everyone that was hurt by my embarrassing actions.”
- - - -
Also caught up in bullying rumors is Mingyu from Seventeen. Pledis Entertainment has denied accusations that SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu was a bully during his school days.
The post creator (henceforth referred to as “A”) stated that she gained courage to write the post after seeing the recent surge of school violence accusations made against celebrities.
“A” wrote, “Since elementary school, [Mingyu] was good at soccer and was a part of the group of delinquents. In my first year of middle school, there was a time when the scary kids and older students stopped me on my way home from school and took my money and verbally abused me.” “A” explained that the kids exercised some mild violence such as shoving her head and added, “I cried because I was so scared, and the person who watched the entire situation from the beginning while laughing, threw a coke bottle cap at my face, and screamed with laughter when he hit the mark was [Mingyu].”
“A” further claimed that after Mingyu passed the agency audition and became a trainee, he took her to money and used it to pay for transportation when he went to the practice room.
The post was deleted approximately three hours after it was uploaded.
A source from Pledis Entertainment stated, “We have confirmed with Mingyu that the claims are groundless and completely false. We do not understand who is making these claims and with what intention.”
In a call with news outlet News1, the agency source elaborated, “‘A,’ who is making the school violence claims, revealed their middle school graduation album to verify their identity, but the album is from a different year from Mingyu’s graduation year.” They added, “Not only that, but ‘A’ wrote that Mingyu was cast in his third year of middle school, but he has been a Pledis Entertainment trainee since his second year of middle school. The claims made by ‘A’ are not lining up.”
Sources:: Soojin - translated by U.Kim at Soompi, Naver 1, 2, 3
Mingyu - translated by U.Kim at Soompi, Naver 1, 2, topstarnews
February 22 2021, 19:58:30 UTC 1 week ago Edited: February 22 2021, 20:03:29 UTC
"Second, I have never ridden a motorcycle." this made me cackle lmao
OH also still confused by that actress' involvement but okay
as for the mingyu thing, not surprised. as i've mentioned in a previous scandal post, i expect the "attractive" male idols to be shitheads in school. my irrational dislike for svt members kinda justified here finally
February 22 2021, 20:05:23 UTC 1 week ago
is that all you care about? if anything his accusations seem to be the most likely to be false out of all the celebrity bullying rumors that have come out in the past couple days
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February 22 2021, 20:03:33 UTC 1 week ago Edited: February 22 2021, 20:14:42 UTC
also carats have been handling this situation terribly so like i said on twitter..
February 22 2021, 20:24:33 UTC 1 week ago
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February 22 2021, 20:19:21 UTC 1 week ago
This reminds me of AOA Jimin saying she didn't remember doing all the things Mina mentioned.
Maybe to the bully, it was nothing "deep" or serious, so they forgot about it, but for the victim, it is something that hurt them and they can't just forget it and dismiss it as something trivial from the past. If the allegations are true, I hope the victims find peace and the culprits are properly punished/shunned.
February 22 2021, 20:22:16 UTC 1 week ago
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February 22 2021, 20:24:46 UTC 1 week ago
February 22 2021, 20:54:21 UTC 1 week ago
I hate people, truly.
February 22 2021, 20:32:16 UTC 1 week ago Edited: February 22 2021, 20:46:26 UTC
i'm not saying all these accusations aren't legit and i don't think fans should blindly defend anyone, but considering the amount of accusations coming out all at once, this all just seems really weird to me
February 22 2021, 20:55:50 UTC 1 week ago
February 22 2021, 20:46:29 UTC 1 week ago
Bullying seems to be such a problem there. it's very unfortunate.
February 22 2021, 20:47:40 UTC 1 week ago
February 22 2021, 21:42:35 UTC 1 week ago
February 23 2021, 01:15:40 UTC 1 week ago
Most companies don’t care though, they know even lol so I doubt this will ever happen
February 22 2021, 23:16:27 UTC 1 week ago
February 23 2021, 14:17:10 UTC 1 week ago
It's frustrating to see ppl on IG try and dismiss these accusations as "suspicious" straight off the bat without looking further into them just because there are so many popping up at the same time. IMO that could simply be because people feel encouraged to share traumatic experiences when they see others speaking up too. So I feel hella uncomfortable seeing people immediately side with idols just because it's "suspicious" that so many accusations have popped up lately.
February 23 2021, 16:51:32 UTC 1 week ago
I think Soojin is gonna end up getting the biggest shaft since her news is at least partially confirmed, I wonder if she’ll get kicked from the group.