HYBE Labels and Source Music have released an official statement about school bullying rumors raised against LE SSERAFIM member Kim Garam.
Earlier this week, several netizens claiming to be former classmates of Kim Garam took to online communities to raise school bullying accusations against the soon-to-debut idol. Netizens claimed that Kim Garam was famous at her middle school for smoking, drinking underage, and bullying many classmates at school. One netizen uploaded several screen shots of text messages allegedly exchanged between Kim Garam and an acquaintance, and accused Kim Garam of cursing and threatening her classmates if they refused to pick up her calls. Another netizen further claimed that a classmate was sent to the emergency room due to Kim Garam's actions.
The full statement is provided below:
Hello, this is HYBE.
We would like to inform you about our position regarding the suspicions related to Kim Garam, who has been confirmed to debut as a member of LESSERAFIM, a girl group from Source Music under HYBE.
Since yesterday, there have been accusations made against her on various websites, and we have conducted an internal verification process. The results are as follows:
The recent allegations were cunningly edited to maliciously slander Kim Garam over the events that occurred during the time when she was making friends in the early stages of middle school.
Contrary to the claims, it was confirmed through a third-party statement that Kim Garam was a victim of school bullying, including malicious rumors and cyberbullying, when she was in middle school.
In addition, it was confirmed that the rumors, such as that Kim Garam was a trainee at another agency or that she leaked internal documents, are not true.
We believe that the allegations are maliciously intended to harm the artist who is about to debut, and we inform you that Source Music has taken legal action against the spread of unilateral and distorted allegations and false information related to this case.
Therefore, we sincerely ask you to refrain from speculative reporting based on suspicions that are currently being maliciously raised online.
Furthermore, the allegations that have been raised contain defamation of character against someone who is still a minor before her debut as a celebrity, and we would like to clearly state that we will take legal action without any settlement or leniency.
Thank you.
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