MIA2K: A K-Pop Podcast

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Episode 52 – Fallen Idols: How B.I, Wonho, and Soojin’s Controversies Forced Them Out of Their Groups

This topic is a little controversial, primarily on the K-Netizen side. We are going to talk about idols who have left their groups. We will specifically focus on 3 idols, the reasons why the left, and our opinion about it. And we have one more bonus idol at the end…

Listen here:

Please remember that a lot of the stories and accusations have not been proven true and to take everything we say with a grain of salt. ​​We tried our best to research the topics but we are just two girlies without a team or money. Unless the stories and scandals have been proven true by a court of law, everything we say is alleged, hearsay, gossip, chisme. Our podcast’s aim is always to provide entertainment with a side of facts, and focus mostly on our opinions. 

Without further ado, let’s jump into today’s figures. We’ll be covering B.I formerly of iKON, Wonho formerly of Monsta X, Soojin formerly of (G)I-DLE, and Rocky formerly of Astro. Let’s start with B.I.

B.I. (iKON)
Wonho (Monsta X)
  • Why did he leave the company? Drugs scandal, debt scandal, teenage dirtbag days. 
  • Context: it’s 2019 and the K-Pop world is burning. There’s the Burning Sun Scandal, B.I’s drug allegations and now it’s Monsta X’s time, specifically Wonho. 
  • October 29, 2019 – Rumors start swirling that Wonho owes an old roommate, Jung Da Eun, money. Wonho and Da Eun worked in “Ulzzang Shidae” prior to debuting with Monsta X. Han Soo Hee (remember her from ruining B.I’s life?!?!) and a fuel to the fire by commenting on Da Eun’s post writing, “give Da Eun her 30 million won.”  
  • October 30, 2019 – Starship denies all rumors. 
  • October 31, 2019 – Starship announces that Wonho is leaving Monsta X. Wonho pens a letter to fans apologizing for not being able to be a “good person/idol.” 
  • November 1, 2019 – Dispatch released a report  about Wonho’s alleged drug use in 2013 with Da Eun and a man named, “Jo”. “Jo” was a manager at the club “Burning Sun” and a friend of Da Eun. “Jo” was at this point detained for drug use. Because “Jo’s” and Da Eun’s witness accounts matched, they thought they were credible so they detained Wonho in the airport as he was arriving from Germany. At that moment, police did not say what the reason was. Dispatch also uncovered his criminal past, in 2008, Wonho was charged with special larceny. He got probation. In 2008, Wonho was 15 years old. 
  • March 2020 – Wonho is cleared of all drug charges and Starship releases a statement about it.  
  • Wonho makes his solo debut on September 4, 2020 with Highline Entertainment.
    • Who is Highline Entertainment? – subsidiary of Starship Entertainment. 
    • What else happened during this time?
Soojin [(G)I-DLE]

2021

  • On February 20, the alleged victim’s older sister, identified as “A”, released bullying rumors against (G)I-DLE’s Soojin. “A” claimed that her younger sister fell victim to Soojin’s bullying. She claimed that Soojin would call her sibling and her sibling’s friend to the bathroom and “make them slap each other and would send group texts saying that [her] sibling is a loner/outcast.” 
  • According to their claims, Soojin also stole other students’ school uniforms and money, and that she went around with older guys who rode motorcycles while drinking and smoking.
  • The older sister went on to claim that she bullied “Miss Seo,” who is speculated to be actress Seo Shin Ae:
  • Everyday, on the way to school, you’d scream behind her. You’d say things like, “Hey you, little b*tch!” and “You bbang– ddong–!” You’d even mock her like, “What are you going to do without any parents?” You also made her get into fights by spreading rumors about her. You kept pressuring her to tailor her skirt shorter, saying that it’s too long.
  • — Netizen “A”
  • On February 21, Seo Shin Ae appeared to have chimed in to the controversy when she posted a cryptic Instagram story, which fans believe correlated to the accusations.
  • That same day, CUBE Entertainment, Soojin’s label, denied the claims.
    • Hello this is CUBE Entertainment. We’ve talked to Soojin about the online post that is circulating and she has confirmed the following: The original poster (OP) is an older sister to the alleged victim who went to the same middle school with Soojin. The OP once heard the alleged victim and Soojin argue over the phone. The OP also spoke to Soojin over the phone, also in argument.
    • All other claims made by the OP regarding the school bullying, however, have been confirmed as false.
    • CUBE Entertainment
  • The agency also stated that they will be monitoring the false rumors and taking appropriate legal action as needed.
  • Soojin made a personal statement, admitting to having had “negative rumors following [her] around” in school but denying all bullying allegations.
  • On February 25, the first alleged victim was scheduled to meet with representatives from CUBE Entertainment. According to the victim’s legal representatives, the only thing that the alleged victim is asking for is a sincere apology from Soojin. 
  • On February 26, a netizen claiming to be a former classmate of Soojin stepped up to reveal that Soojin was a victim of bullying and rarely crossed paths with Seo Shin Ae.
  • March 19th: Soojin posted a LENGTHY write-up to U-CUBE detailing every accusation as well as her experience. In it she covered each instance from her perspective and shared that her mistakes were being immature and not controlling her emotions, but that she didn’t bully anyone nor was she bullied. She also addressed Seo Shinae:
    • Regarding the Instagram posts from actress Seo Shin Ae:
      • Just as my first statement mentioned, 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.
    • She closed with:
      • At the time I shared my first statement, I was already branded a bully due to a particular actress’s post. As I rushed to release a statement, it came without careful construction and it eventually caused even more misunderstanding. Hence, I thought with my next statement I will need to be more thoughtful. Please note, however, I did not lie in my first statement.
  • I knew that admitting to have smoked as a minor would be a huge blow to my career as a female idol. However, in order to be honest with everyone, I put everything on the line to admit that. I have smoked a few times out of curiosity and I am aware of how big of a mistake that is. I admit that I deserve the criticism about this and I am really sorry.
  • I have proceeded with lawsuits against all the rumors and lies and they will be dealt with by law. If the law decides there is any wrongdoing on my part, I will withdraw from the team and accept all penalties. That is a given. But I will continue to fight to reveal the truth about the things I did not do. Once again, I deeply apologize for having caused so much trouble. I will remain honest until this is all resolved.
  • March 25th: Seo Shinae posted a statement to her IG claiming:
    • “The person who has brought up my name would constantly do nasty things, criticize me, make personal attacks, and laugh at me almost every day with her group of friends, whether I was on my way to school, in the hallways during break, or in the cafeteria. They would say things such as ‘She’s not even that pretty, how can she be a celebrity?’ ‘Whatever, she’s just a washed-up celebrity,’ ‘She’s just an outcast,’ and ‘What do the teachers even like about her, why does she get special treatment?’ … She says she doesn’t remember and that she never talked to me — and that’s right. It was always a one-sided affair with her insults. It is regretful that she came to the conclusion that the contemptuous remarks and actions she made within her group weren’t true. And I don’t know what evidence or witnesses she has, but I want to ask whether her selective memories are genuine enough to explain everything I am mentioning.” 
  • On August 14th, CUBE announced that Soojin had officially withdrawn from the group based on the accusations and that (G)I-DLE would continue promoting as 5 members. Just a few hours later, a fan opened a change.com petition for “Justice for Soojin” which gathered 160,000 signatures in just 3 days. At the time of recording, the petition is still up and is at 204,933 signatures. 
  • Curiously, that same day a post went up claiming although CUBE had just announced Soojin’s departure from the group, they had decided it as soon as the allegations started because the controversy was clearly hurting the group. 
  • On August 15th, Seo Shinae’s YouTube channel got “terrorized” with comments from Soojin’s fans. 

2022

  • March 4th: CUBE terminated their contract with Soojin. 
  • This is Cube Entertainment.
  • We would like to inform you that our exclusive contract with artist Seo Soojin will be terminated.
  • Regarding the controversy that arose in February 2021, the company and Soojin worked with the police to investigate the case, and the investigation determined that the individuals who made the comments were found not guilty of spreading false information.
  • We respect the results of the police investigation, and we apologize for causing concern to many people.
  • Thank you.
  • On September 8th, Soojin’s legal counsel announced they were dropping the lawsuit following the counsel of the police: 
  • “Seo Soojin had filed a lawsuit, taking the legal steps against the exposer as a way to end the controversy, but they were ruled not guilty. At the end of a few rounds of discussion, we decided that there was a limit to the investigation of truth through legal means regarding the exposé, so we decided not to pursue the lawsuit any further. The police decided not to process the lawsuit for the reason that [the post] could be the truth from the point of view of the exposer, and hence, it would not have been intended to spread falsehoods. There is no other evidence to prove the facts apart from the conflicting statements of those involved.” 
  • Fans’ opinions: https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/t73alr/cube_entertainment_terminates_former_gidle_member/ 

2023

To know all of our opinions based on these facts and find out who the fourth idol we covered on the episode is, watch our episode here:

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