Stray Kids Hyunjin Accused of School Bullying + JYP Entertainment Released Statement
[Trigger Warning/Content Warning: Bullying, School Violence]
On Monday, Feb. 22, Stray Kids member Hyunjin became one of the idols accused of school bullying and violence. JYP Entertainment has since commented on the claims. Keep on reading to learn more about the situation.
Stray Kids' Hyunjin, a School Bully?
On Feb. 22, Hyunjin was accused of assaulting fellow students during his school days. A post was made by an anonymous user on an online community forum accused Hyyunjin of bullying students in group chats, making abusive and sexually inappropriate statements, and insult other people's families.
Their whole post reads:
"I never expect Hwang Hyunjin would debut as an idol and be so well-loved and supported by so many people. It might have been considered a joke when we were younger, but I am someone who suffered from school violence at the hands of Hyunjin. As I mentioned before, I never thought he would become an idol, so I never collected any evidence, just a certificate from when we went to school together, my memories, and testimonies from my friends.
The hell I went through would have been buried if he never became a celebrity, but when Hyunjin debuted as an idol, the memories came back and haunted me every time I see him appear on TV.
There were two reasons why Hyunjin chose to bully me in the class group chat back then. One reason is that he did not like the fact that I asked him to close the classroom's back door since he always sat in the back. Second, I had a friend who had to do lunch duty to get lunch since he was not part of the school's meal plan. Hyunjin did not like that and criticized my friend, telling them, 'I hate that you get so much for lunch. You are the reason why other students cannot eat lunch.'
He would even say, 'You look like that because you do not have a mother,' and would say even worse abusive things, make sexually harassing insults, and insult other people's families. His unprovoked insults and insensitive, and how he fought people to the point where he wanted to hit them, is shocking."
JYP Entertainment Releases Statement Concerning Stray Kids' Hyunjin's School Violence Rumors
When the post initially gained virality, JYP Entertainment announced that they were looking into the matter. A few hours later, JYP Entertainment announced that they had planned to speak to people who went to the same school as Hyunjin but quickly found discrepancies in the allegations against Hyunjin. They announced the claims as groundless and malicious and will be taking legal action.
Their statement reads:
"Hello. This is JYP Entertainment.
Currently, there have been rumors going around on different community forums concerning our artist, Hyunjin. We are releasing this statement regarding the same issue.
Firstly, we are doing everything in our power to ensure we have all the facts regarding the situation.
When the issues were first raised, we asked for the opinions of those who went to the same school as the idol in question. If the said people permitted us, we planned to fo listen to their stories directly.
However, it has been confirmed that there are several discrepancies in the allegations against Hyunjin. After we confirmed this, we have concluded that the allegations were made with malicious intent. We intend to find out the facts and will be taking various methods to conduct a detailed investigation so that nothing is warped.
We will be taking legal action against the rumors that are being spread. Our agency will do its best to uncover the truth, as well as protect our artists. We will be responding strictly to those who spread rumors.
Thank you."
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Written by Alexa Lewis
