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On August 10, Kim Garam, the former idol of HYBE's girl-group, LE SSERAFIM, issued a statement explaining her side of the story in response to the bullying allegations levied against her. In relation to this, while fans expected a response from the idol's former agency, the corporation made its refusal to comment on the recent statement clear.
When inquired by a media outlet, officials of HYBE expressed their refusal to comment on the statement issued by their former idol. The officials stated:
"We have terminated the exclusive contract with Kim Garam, so we have nothing to say in regards to that because any additional comments would be inappropriate."
The agency terminated its contract with the rookie K-Pop idol weeks after she became embroiled in allegations of school bullying on July 20. Throughout the scandal, the idol did not give a personal statement on the matter until recently, when she made a post addressing the issue via her friend’s social media profile.
HYBE's former idol Kim Garam breaks silence on bullying allegations
Kim Garam, a former member of HYBE’s rookie girl-group LE SSERAFIM has finally come out and spoken out against the allegations of bullying made against her. In her statement, she addressed most of the grounds for allegations made against her.
Amidst the multiple allegations made against the sixteen-year-old idol, the ones that wreaked the most havoc were allegations of violence, underage smoking, drinking, and bullying juniors.
In the statement, the idol confessed to having never used violence. She also denied having ever indulged in underage smoking or drinking, while claiming that she was just an ordinary school student who had never been compelled to transfer schools. Garam's position is in line with the position maintained by HYBE when the scandal first arose.
Offering more details, Garam explained that she did not bully anyone and that the incident which has snow-balled into the present scandal was one in which the idol was trying to defend her friend who had been violated.
The idol apologized for the delay in her response and explained the reason behind the same. A translation of the statement reads as follows:
"This is very late, but I didn't have the chance to speak my position. Because I put much effort to achieve my dream, it is true that I was afraid that the dream that I ran toward would break to pieces because of my past actions. However, I was more afraid of the criticisms that increased as the days passed."
Additionally, she promised to do better in the future:
“I’m going to try my best to be a better person. Thank you to my precious fans for supporting me. I was able to endure it all thanks to the support of my fans. I’ll continue to do my best. Thank you for reading this.”
In addition to the statement, the former idol of HYBE also uploaded a report of the School Violence Committee regarding her 5th level disposition and all the corollary documents which are crucial for unveiling the truth.
The statement was posted via the account of Kim Garam’s friend as the idol does not have her personal ID on social media.
