BRODUCE 101 Contestant Han Jongyeon to leave after current controversy

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

On March 17th it was revealed by Maroo Entertainment via press release that Han Jongyeon will be leaving Produce 101 due to current controversy arising from his past in primary school.

After the release of his profile for Produce 101, an individual took to SNS to write about the torment they had faced because of Han Jongyeon in primary and middle school. After the post, Maroo Entertainment stated that they had met with the victim and has personally apologized. In addition, he will be taking time off to go into deep reflection.

In addition, Maroo Entertainment and Han Jongyeon would like to apologize to everyone who has been affected by his actions including producers for Produce 101, trainees competing towards their dreams and the viewers who were supporting Han Jongyeon.

Maroo Entertainment also stated, that Han Jongyeon will be leaving Produce 101 to reflect on his actions. He has expressed his forgiveness to his friend who has been harmed in this situation. However we would like to address that the rumour about Han Jongyeon forcing individuals to masturbate is not true, we will be taking legal actions against this claim we will also be taking action on any other comments that are false rumours and claims that have malicious intent regarding Han Jongyeon. We apologize once again for the controversy and promise that we will work with Han Jongyeon to help him become a better person and artist.

Source: Naver via balloon_wanted

so it's true he was a bully, but not the sexual abuse aspect of it (if the company statement is to be believed)

Comments

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

Future posts should be titled as Broduce 100

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

lmao! I'll totally do that. I wonder what will happen to the other guy that you posted about.

[sayuridoll.livejournal.com]

lmao omg

[myxlittlexporny.livejournal.com]

Yes. Or Brodouche 101

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

even better!

[sodapab.livejournal.com]

+1

[nixx0-0.livejournal.com]

Nice little cover up they did there.
Admit to bullying but not the felony.
Nice.
He might just have a shot as being a disgusting human being instead of a disgusting sociopath.

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

I don't think it would be in the best interest of the company to admit to the sexual assault (if true), it would make people question their screening methods, their other trainees and artists, and ruin the company's reputation.

[nixx0-0.livejournal.com]

Yeah,
My comment was dripping with sarcasm after i have had 2 glasses of wine. Now, i'm a good half bottle of Vodka in and i want to scream and shout beacause WHAT KIND of screening process does not see underlying social issues? Or even a brief overview of social history will show you even the littlest point of bullying and i personally know this fact because of my current job.
In korean pop culture i feel like they are way too reliant on the social status and/or good looks of their future idols so that they can SO FUCKING EASILY let these gross people slip through the cracks.
(Note: i'm not just outing the gross neglience of male artist background checks. But the females as well.)


At some point i wonder when 'reflecting' or reprimanding will be enough and yet i Know it won't change immediately or even in the next 5+ years.

I'm disgisted and deeply saddened.

[torontok.livejournal.com]

Lmao and he was an A rank too.Way to fuck things up for yourself

[jaequeeragenda.livejournal.com]

maybe they felt he wasnt worth protecting or defending so they just kicked him out lol?

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he already has a mark of controversy so he wouldn't have gotten far. And since the bullying was actually true, Mnet would've gotten backlash for keeping him on.

[donaldjdrumpf.livejournal.com]

Broduce 101's loss is Trump Oppa's gain! #WelcomeToTheBand #MakeK-PopGreatAgain

[jesymphony.livejournal.com]

Trump oppa, what's your current lineup??

[babyjenkski.livejournal.com]

Sweetie you only have Nam Tae confirmed. Who else is on your lineup?

[pseudo-shigure.livejournal.com]

Wait. isn't the victim of bullying also the victim of sexual harassment? so they apologize to that guy but will sue him for the other "rumor".

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

Seems like it. They were very life ruining/reputation ruining claims.

[beast-jjang.livejournal.com]

that's what i thought too...
& i worry for him, because of how korea's defamation laws are actually set up. even if that really happened to him, they can sue him & win.

edit to add: that's why all the other accusations came anonymously. this guy's credibility was mainly because he didn't try to hide his identity at all. if they really sue him, what does that say to all victims of bullying? they'll never come forward again.

[carazhan.livejournal.com]

yeah, i can't see any way for kangto to gain legal justice for the sexual abuse... best-case scenario he's able to get a settlement. i just hope he can avoid the worst-case scenario of the agency using its power to win a defamation case.

[pisceanfelt.livejournal.com]

??????? Why are they even still going through with this if one contestant after another keeps being exposed for shittieness????

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

because mnet doesn't care about the trainees. they only care about the money they'll make from the sponsors and ads, and the 11 cashcows they'll get at the end of all of this.

[pisceanfelt.livejournal.com]

But if these guys keep turning out to be bullies, wouldn't Korea not want anything to do with them? Or is it only girls that burned at the stake for being bullies.

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

There's 100 contestants left, so definitely some others are bound to be bullies (we'll probably get that with mnet's editing too), but there are a lot of people who aren't and just want to debut. So still going to be pretty entertaining. But also yes, unfortunately the world isn't as harsh on men as it should be.

[bob-dabuilda.livejournal.com]

So they apologize to the victim, but then state the sexual harassment rumors aren't true....which was started by the victim.


I think they're just trying to do damage control by "admitting" to the bullying so the claim of the masturbation thing can look false. Kinda like a partial truth where you tell a truth to cover up a worse lie.

[carazhan.livejournal.com]

yeah there's no legal ramifications for 'typical' cases of bullying, so by owning up to that they get to save face and potentially keep jongyeon as a trainee. i just really hope the agency drops the defamation charges or reaches a settlement with kangto... poor kid shouldn't be punished for telling the truth.

[bob-dabuilda.livejournal.com]

a lot of those sue for defamation claims are just to shut people up i think. they probably slipped him some money to keep quiet.

[little-giant.livejournal.com]

This show is already so messy that when i read that a contestant has left due to a controversy, my first thought is "which one?".

[sforza.livejournal.com]

YOUR ICON IS SO GREAT

[sodapab.livejournal.com]

I thought the same, there have been too many asshats lately

+great icon :)

[woohyun.livejournal.com]

Good Riddance!!!!

[jrt131n.livejournal.com]

But is the show really as messy as people are saying it is? How many people have scandals that are on this? I know about this dude, the other bully and the guy who sexually assaulted his date, but are there more contestants that have done shitty things???

[jesymphony.livejournal.com]

I think it's more that the first season, with all the girls, had no scandals prior to the show airing at all (at least no scandals that were proven true/were this explosive). Hence Broduce100 looks messy by comparison.

Plus there's the fact that already debuted idols are being let on the show, but that one's neither here nor there imo.

[jrt131n.livejournal.com]

I guess that make sense if comparing the two season.

I mean the letting already debut idol groups or member was done on the first season too, DIA and that one girl who was an orignal member of a group called Co-Ed.

[dumpyfledgling.livejournal.com]

So many scandals already. This isn't going to be anywhere as good as the girls' season but I'm still going to watch.