Earlier this month, rumours ran wild that Ji Soo was involved in date rape, school violence, and animal abuse as the netizens claimed that Ji Soo dated a few girls in the past and distributed their naked photos. Just yesterday, the Seoul Mapo Police confirmed the identity of the netizen who they suspect is the one responsible for circulating the rumours, and will be bringing the individual in for questioning.
But now, a post by one of the victims of Lovelyz‘ Seo Ji Soo is spreading like wildfire online, further confusing netizens about what the truth may be. Someone who goes by the Twitter handle “@jisooluv” (profile name “Apologize Jisoo”) revealed that she will be answering the police’s summoning by bringing along evidence with her.
In her lengthy post, “jisooluv” detailed the hard time she’s been having with the real victims being labeled as people who just spread rumours, due to some of the fake victims who jumped on the bandwagon by posting false testimonies and ‘evidence’. She also mentioned that because Woollim is a company and much more powerful than her, she cannot fight this battle alone, and that it hurt her that the company is using media play to make her and the other real victims look like malicious rumour spreaders.
“jisooluv” wrote:
Although I tried to bring awareness about the truth until the last moment, because of the fake and false testimonies of individuals like ‘f**ckingjisoo=nikboho=jagiya’, the rest of us real victims are being cornered as liars, and I felt as if my world was crumbling. It felt as if one lie was covering ten truths.
When I had just about given up (on pursuing anything), I came across a petition and words that said that I was a liar and my activities were suspicious. Although I wasn’t the very first (to post all this), because I was the one who had organised all the various accounts (about Ji Soo) into a post, I felt responsibility about all the real victims becoming labeled as the wrongdoers as the situation became worse. So I gathered the courage to write this.
To be honest, I’m very tired out. Before I am a victim, I am also an individual of the sexual minority, and a girl. Because I stand confident, I was able to bring this case up to the surface, but as I kept giving feedback, the more that people demanded things from me and threatened me on SNS, the more I felt fear, and the more pressure I felt to produce evidence…
What kind of evidence must I show to prove my case. I finally arrived at a state of calm only after I even started to have bad thoughts.
She went on to point out that although she had tried her best to keep strong, she felt panicked.
And in the past few days, she stopped posting out of fear of those who did not trust her even when she was in such an agitated state.
She then continued:
Seeing all those false reports talking about some audio file that (the real victims) never even revealed, and the one sided reports about Seo Ji Soo’s feelings on the matter, and the absurd media play that portray the exhausted victims as those who spread rumours and then hide afterwards – I have come to experience that the weak has no place to stand.
Because of all this, while I was requesting the help of those around me, I had unintentionally ‘come out’. And I was once again hurt reading Woollim’s response that said, “If you’re going to put up the reason that it’s difficult to expose your status because you’re a sexual minority, then do not pretend to be a victim. If you really think you have a good case, appear at the police office and accept our cooperation”.
We were simply afraid to think of ourselves trembling with uneasiness every time we see (Seo Ji Soo) laughing on TV. Doesn’t the media also have the responsibility of listening to the stories of the victims, rather than just arguing for Seo Ji Soo’s side? Is it right that you portray the victims as just some rumour spreaders just because we couldn’t agree to an interview? I pondered a lot about whether to post these words as well. But in the end, I couldn’t stand the thought of all this being labeled as simply rumours due to media play, before the truth has even been determined.
The media is killing the victims twice by posting things that aren’t accurate as if they are the truth. Even from the beginning, Woollim put emphasis on not “whether this is true” but rather “who is the person who spread this”. Since they’re proceeding this way, claiming defamation, even if I am able to prove that it is all true, I can still be punished for (being the spreader). So if there is something I must receive punishment for legally, then I will receive it, but it is up to all of you to keep an eye on how Woollim reports on the portions that I am able to prove true.
I am such a small person to fight against a whole company. I have no more strength to endure this by myself. I am not some feedback machine. I want to say thank you and sorry to all those who have tried to help me including certain media outlets, organizations, former Woollim staff, and the people in my community who helped me to not give up.
I also want to apologise to my parents who must have been very shocked. I think this will be the last. I, as the third spreader, will take my remaining evidence and respond to the police’s calling.
As mentioned before, the police have revealed that they plan to bring in the netizen they have identified this week, at the earliest, for questioning.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Seo Ji Soo has been admitted to a hospital for mental treatment. Lovelyz’s agency Woollim Entertainment revealed that Ji Soo was undergoing a lot of mental stress and trauma from the malicious rumours circulating the internet that she performed sexual assault and blackmailed others with nude photos. As such, she wasn’t a part of Lovelyz’s debut showcase.
The agency told Newsen on 13th Nov:
Seo Ji Soo is also an admitted (patient) today (the 13th). She is connected to an IV, regaining stability, and doing her best. We are not allowing her to go on the internet or watch TV. We are taking care so that she does not get hurt from unnecessary rumors and talk. The agency reps are continuously talking to her and working to help her regain internal stability. She is improving bit by bit.
More to come as the story unfolds.
What do you guys think though? Was Ji Soo really framed or are the rumours about her true? Is Ji Soo really capable of all the malicious things that the rumours claimed she has done? Let us know what you think in the comments box below!
