[Sportschosun Reporter Park Araam] As rapper Yang Hong-won faces allegations of school bullying, his agency said it has filed a criminal complaint against the person who posted the accusation and will respond firmly.
AP Alchemy, Yang Hong-won's agency, said on its official account on the 21st that it had released its position on a recent school bullying accusation post uploaded to an online community.
The agency said that a post claiming one of its artists had been a victim of school bullying had appeared online, but added that some of the details were not true.
In particular, it rejected the claim that the author of the post had tried to contact the company and the artist but received no response, leaving only a phone number behind.
According to the agency, the individual had been sending threatening messages to Yang Hong-won and his family even before posting the accusation. The person also allegedly broke into the artist's studio late at night and damaged the interior.
The agency further claimed that the person broke the studio door, entered without permission, and smashed mirrors and other items. It added that photos released with the statement showed severe damage to the entrance door and windows.
AP Alchemy said it filed the criminal complaint to protect the artist and his family, and that a police investigation is now under way.
The agency stressed, "Regardless of whether the school bullying allegations are true, acts such as threats, trespassing and property damage can never be justified." It added, "We will continue to take legal action against malicious defamation and unverified rumors targeting the artist and his family."
Earlier, on the 16th, a post appeared on an online community claiming that Yang Hong-won had bullied the writer during school years. The author, who said they attended the same elementary, middle and high schools as Yang Hong-won, explained that they had suffered for a long time and decided to speak out, fueling the controversy.
Meanwhile, Yang Hong-won was also embroiled in school bullying controversy when he appeared on Mnet's 2017 survival program "High School Rapper."
tokkig@sportschosun.com
▶ Full statement below
Hello. This is AP Alchemy.
A post was recently uploaded on a community site claiming that one of our artists was a victim of school bullying and that the writer would expose it.
First, we would like to correct some inaccuracies in the school bullying-related post uploaded to the community.
The person claiming to be a victim of school bullying posted that they had tried to speak with the company and the artist, but because there was no response, they left only a phone number. This is not true.
Before writing the accusation, the person had repeatedly sent threatening messages to the artist and his family. Late at night, the person broke the door to the artist's studio, broke in without permission, and damaged the interior by smashing mirrors and more.
After that, the person sent the artist's family a video showing the studio being damaged, saying they were prepared to face criminal punishment, and hinted at further damage and additional harm.
Accordingly, our company filed a criminal complaint to protect our artist and the artist's family, and a police investigation is currently under way.
Regardless of whether the school bullying rumors about our artist are true, the criminal acts described above cannot be tolerated.
AP Alchemy will respond firmly to this matter, and we also state that we will take strong action against malicious criticism and baseless rumors targeting the artist and the artist's family.
