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Soojin, who left both (G)I-DLE and the agency, CUBE Entertainment, was caught up in a bullying controversy from April 2021 to September 2022. The controversy began with one alleged victim's post and continued with a confession from actress Seo Shin-ae. However, CUBE Entertainment denied all accusations except Soojin's confession about her few rebellious actions that were harmless to others.
While the controversy slowly died down due to the lack of evidence, netizens have been reminded about the year-old controversy with the recent rumor that the idol will debut as a solo artist after signing up with her new agency, BRD Communications.
Soojin's bullying controversy, hiatus from the industry, lawsuit, and her rumored return explored
The first alleged victim's sister accuses Soojin of bullying
The controversy started when the sister of Soojin's alleged former classmate took to Instagram and other social media platforms to accuse the idol of bullying her younger sister.
She said that the idol used physical violence against the younger sister, which has left her traumatized even years after, causing her TCP (thrombocytopenia). However, the idol's then-agency soon responded, saying that the allegations were false, and this conclusion was made after a personal talk between the idol and the accuser.
Actress Seo Shin-ae confesses as the second alleged victim
The controversy was further fueled when Actress Seo Shin-ae hinted that the idol bullied her when they shared the same middle school. Given that Seo Shin-ae began her acting career in her childhood, she revealed through an interview in 2012, when she played the role of a bully in SOS, that she was bullied during middle school.
After the first alleged victim's confession about Soojin's bullying, the actress posted an Instagram story with the following caption:
Soojin releases personal statement explaining the controversy
However, the idol uploaded a personal statement through the agency's fansite application, U CUBE, saying that none of the accusations stand true. She shared that she was close with both the first accuser and her sister and shared a good relationship. However, they fell apart after the idol broke a promise.
"From what I remember, I had a fight with the girl because she broke a promise. It wasn’t her first time, so remember getting mad at her for it. I didn’t know that she was trying to push me away. I’m embarrassed about it, but I also remember cursing at her over the phone.
"The older sister heard me and she scolded me about it. I apologized and hung up. Since then, the girl and I really drifted apart and never really made up," Soojin wrote.
Since the fight between them was merely over the phone, CUBE Entertainment called the other accusations false.
Alleged former classmate defends the idol from bullying allegations
In the idol's defense, an alleged classmate of hers released a long online post expressing that Soojin was never a bully and got away from her friend group once they began to bully others. The alleged classmate also expressed that since she was close with the idol, she never saw her bullying Seo Shin-ae, and their classes were different and on different floors.
Soojin's departure from (G)I-DLE and CUBE Entertainment - The idol released a second statement
Due to increasing heat surrounding the allegations, the idol lost her brand deal with Peripera, and they deleted all images of her from their social media platforms. Soojin eventually went into hiatus in March 2021 and was focusing on breaking down the controversy. In another statement, the idol explained that the first alleged victim was diagnosed with TCP years after middle school.
She also said that there was a time when the school violence committee called her in along with her mother. However, that too settled after the long discussion revealed that the idol was not at fault. She also mentioned that she had never talked to the actress in middle school and expressed that all the rumors were false and made up since she never interacted with her.
"I have never conversed with actress Seo Shin Ae during my school days. Before this whole thing, I didn’t even know which class she was in. I never put cigarettes on her desk or stole her graduation letters. In fact, this is the first time I heard about such rumors. That goes to show how little I knew about the schoolmate Seo Shin Ae. I have never bullied her or cursed her out.
"Every time I released a statement, actress Seo Shin Ae also posted something, making a lot of people believe that I have bullied her. My agency tried contacting hers, but there has been no response. I have nothing to hide. So I hereby request actress Seo Shin Ae to make herself clear with an official statement on this issue," Soojin wrote.
However, with Seo Shin-ae insisting that Soojin bullied her, netizens wrote hate comments on the actress’ YouTube channel. Regardless of the lack of proof and several people defending the idol, she was not found in (G)I-DLE’s comeback in April 2021 and eventually left the group in August of the same year.
The idol files a lawsuit against accusers, and the case ends conclusively
Her official contract was terminated with CUBE Entertainment in March 2022 since police investigations couldn't completely deny the bullying accusations towards the idol. A lawsuit officially began in September 2022 between the two opposing parties.
However, the lawsuit and police investigations couldn't proceed due to the lack of evidence on both sides. It was revealed that Soojin was proven innocent when she was called to the school violence committee during high school for alleged bullying activities. An official statement (via allkpop) by the idol's legal representative read:
"During her first year in middle school, which is the time Ms. Seo allegedly bullied classmates according to the former classmate who made such allegations, Ms. Seo was found 'not guilty' by the school's Autonomous Committee for School Violence Countermeasures but rather was discovered to have been a victim of bullying perpetrated by her seniors."
While there's still much heat and vagueness around the controversy, Soojin was recently rumored to roll out a solo debut after signing up with her new agency, BRD Communications.
Fan rejoiced at the news of her returning and called out CUBE Entertainment for not giving her enough space and time to recollect herself from the controversy.
