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Fans question HYBE’s ‘ambiguous’ reply to Le Sserafim Garam's name on school violence document

HYBE has not shared whether the school violence committee's document mentioning Kim Garam's name as a bully is fake or not

The controversy surrounding Kim Garam is getting messier and messier that even has Le Sserafim fans divided. HYBE’s new girl group is in chaos since their pre-debut era as some victims have accused Garam of bullying them in school. Despite HYBE stating that the rumors were false and they would be taking legal action, the accusers continued to speak up with photographic evidence. With school bullying being extremely violent in South Korea, the general public seemed to have dropped Garam.

Fans have been fearful of Garam’s mental state if she is, in fact, innocent as the Le Sserafim member has been getting the brutal silent treatment from Korean fans at every single promotional event. Knetizens and some international fans who believe her to be guilty have also been cyberbullying the 16-year-old on all kinds of social media posts. Fans have tried to help Garam by digging into classmates and trying to find proof as they recalled HYBE had shared the K-pop idol had actually been bullied instead of being the bully.

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A school violence document mentions Garam’s name

Unfortunately, the latest rumors that have cropped up have again destroyed Garam’s case. A photo of a school violence committee document has been leaked on the internet on May 15 and contains Kim Garam’s name. It mentions that she was a perpetrator in class 3. An alleged classmate has confirmed that the Le Sserafim star was indeed in class 3. Additionally, some Knetz found Garam’s TikTok just like the accusers had claimed which has everyone confident that the "evidence" of Garam being a bully was not edited. 

HYBE and Source Music have been quick to release a statement on May 16. The company shared that their original statement had not changed and they had begun taking legal action against these malicious rumors. They hinted that it was difficult to prove Garam’s innocence since the incidents excluding the bullying aspect had taken place when she had joined the middle school and was getting to know her classmates. But HYBE once again said, “Such instances were edited with malicious intent to slander her. Unlike the rumors, the said member was a victim of various malicious rumors and cyberbullying.”

‘What a mess’

One fan hoped, “I just don't believe this story I don't know why.. let me be 'foolish' but I don't believe the story.” Another fan said, “Garam, we love and support you, stay strong.” But one Knetz said, “Seriously what a mess, the fact that they're still not letting her go is the most problematic. Seriously stop shielding her, you're just ending up harming the other memebrs.” One added, “They can't even officially say that the school document was fake and deny it but they are hiring expensive lawyers to threaten minors. That's how I see it.”

A Knetz was frustrated, “If she's not an assailant, just say that she isn't. Talking like this is even more ambiguous. If everything was defamation, then HYBE should remain silent. What's the reason to keep her in the group with the real-time school violence accusations?” Another user commented, “We still can't jump to the conclusion. We should be neutral.HYBE'll soon give some statement on it. This is so confusing.We neither can tell her bully bcz the accuser never give a solid evidence which can leave no doubt,also their is no proper evidence of her innocence either.”

One added, “Just kick her out and get it over with already. She’s really not worth all the trouble she’s causing for everyone else.” Another commented, “Ok but I genuinely want to know why the hell Garam is being kept around. At first I was completely neutral with her due to amount of fake accusations but also true bullying accusations were going around in Kpop. I decided to keep my faith in HYBE because why the hell would they not do a background check on this girl…But now this is getting out of hand. Like I get it she's pretty and they clearly wanted to promote her…but she ain't that valuable for them to be keeping her around this much. I did not wait around for Sakura and Chaewon to re-debut for it to be ruined by a goddamned 16 year old with a bullying God Complex.”

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