APRIL Naeun, (G)I-DLE Soojin, and More: People Select the Stars That Need to Address Their Bullying Controversies the Most
In a recent poll from DC Inside, people selected the celebrities who most need to address their bullying controversies. Among the chosen stars, APRIL's Naeun and (G)I-DLE's Soojin ranked at the top. Keep on reading to learn more.
APRIL's Naeun Voted as the Celebrity That Most Need to Address Her Bullying Controversy
On Monday, Mar. 15, DC Inside released the results of the poll "Who needs to address a proper explanation for their school violence and bullying controversies?" The poll was held from Mar. 7 to Mar. 13.
The celebrity who ranked at number one is APRIL member Lee Naeun, who garnered 3,876 votes out of the total 18,720 votes cast, meaning she snagged 21% of the total votes. Previously, the younger brother of APRIL member Hyunjoo revealed that she left the group because the APRIL members bullied her except for Rachel and Chaekyung, which contrasts with DSP Media's statement saying Hyunjoo left the group due to her desire to pursue acting.
DSP Media denied the claims, stating that Hyunjoo had signed with DSP Media as an acting trainee before joining APRIL and that she left to pursue her initial dream. Hyunjoo's brother countered these claims, saying that Hyunjoo was never an acting trainee and that she was persuaded to join APRIL despite the bullying. According to Hyunjoo's brother, the bullying got o bad that she experienced breathing difficulties and fainting spells. APRIL and DSP Media allegedly never took her to the hospital and prohibited her from taking her medicine since it would make her drowsy and get in the way of APRIL's rehearsals.
DSP Media then announced that they would be taking legal action against Hyunjoo, her family, and friends who shared accusations against people who claimed APRIL was bullied. During the peak of the scandal, a screenshot of a chat log between Naeun and a male classmate resurfaced, where she tells her friend, "Do you also want to be raped by Go Young Wook?!?!?"
Go Young Wook is a former idol who was found guilty of rape and statutory rape. Following this, Naeun was dropped from all of her advertisement deals, dropped from the drama "Taxi Driver," and edited out of all the variety shows she was expected to appear on.
(G)I-DLE's Soojin Selected as The Second-Most Idol Who Needs to Address Her School Bullying Controversy
(G)I-DLE's Soojin ranked at number two with 3,402 votes, meaning she garnered 18% of the total votes. Soojin had actually addressed her bullying controversy when it first came out, but as more testimonies come out against Soojin, people believe that she must release a follow-up statement.
Previously, a user on Instagram accused Soojin of being a bully during their middle school years, claiming that she had hurt the user's sister by physically hurting her. She would also instigate bullying by sending abusive messages through group chats.
The user, along with other anonymous users on an online community forum that claim to have gone to the same school as Soojin, says that she dressed inappropriately for a student, smoked, drank underage, hung out with older boys who rode motorcycles, stole money and uniforms, and caused physical harm to other people.
CUBE Entertainment denied the claims, stating the tension between Soojin and the first user stems from an argument that happened over the phone. Soojin then released a letter for the fans, stating that she did dress inappropriately and smoked out of curiosity. However, she denied all other claims made against her.
People speculate that she had bullied actress Seo Shin Ae, who went to the same middle school as Soojin. After a series of cryptic posts from the actress, testimonies started coming out, saying Soojin bullied Seo Shin Ae out of jealousy, though some have come out to defend Soojin and deny the claims. Following the speculation, Seo Shin Ae released a heart-warming post about finding warmth in the cold winter.
Soojin has also reportedly met with the bullying victim but continually denied claims against bullying.
What are the Other Results of the Poll?
Following Soojin is actor Cho Byung Gyu, who garnered 1,865 votes, or 10% of the total votes. Other actors who received a substantial amount of votes include APRIL's Jinsol, actor Ji Soo, and actor Kim Dong Hee.
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Written by Alexa Lewis
