A recent exclusive report by a South Korean media outlet alleged that Cube Entertainment had decided to remove Soojin (서수진) from (G)I-DLE earlier than expected.
As reported by several insiders in the Hallyu entertainment scene, the agency had decided to remove the 23-year-old idol back in February. This apparently came around the time when her bullying allegations began making rounds on the web.
Soon after the rumours came to light, Cube announced that Soojin would be undergoing a hiatus from the group’s official activities. G)I-DLE had initially attempted to carry on with their activities as a quintet, however the group was unable to continue their promotions due to the aforesaid member’s bullying scandal. As a result, the rest of the girls have been focused on their individual activities.
Although the entertainment company released several statements in order to shut down all the accusations, insiders reported that Cube had already decided on the matter well before their recent announcement. They said, “The members and the company have realised that they can no longer postpone their group activities due to Soojin’s controversy.”
Following the reports, many netizens have begun putting Cube Entertainment on blast for taking this course of action. In this case, a lot of them criticised the agency for attempting to “recycle their image” without an apology, even after taking legal action against the victims.
Here are some highlighted comments left by them:
- “LOL, they were also the perpetrators. I can’t believe they are trying to cover it up by issuing a single statement about her removal on the fan cafe and trying to cleanse their own image.”
- “Just come out and apologise.”
- “Can’t you just apologise to the victims? What was this company even doing?”
- “It disgusts me how they didn’t even try to manage the situation well and now people are telling us that they wanted to simply remove her all along”
- “I wouldn’t trust the company either way.”
On the contrary, a few other commentators also came forth to express their disapproval towards the netizens for blatantly putting the blame solely on the company. To quote one internet user, “Um, there are other companies that are just allowing their idols (‘formal bullies’) to keep promoting. Do you all really have to do this (calling the agency out) here?”
What do you have to say about this prolonged controversy?
Sources: AllKpop, Jazmine Media.
