ITZY Lia's school violence allegations: Here's why JYP seeks reinvestigation
JYP Entertainment has uploaded a detailed report on ITZY Lia's school violence allegations emphasizing their plan to request a re-investigation after the defamation case against the social media poster was rejected by Incheon Yeonsu Police Station citing not enough evidence.
JYP Entertainment has assured fans that the entertainment mogul will be proceeding with a plea to re-investigate as they reveal the truth behind various rumors that were posted online in February 2021 against the K-pop artiste where she was referred as a 'famous female idol born in 2000' engaged in school violence. The allegations were made by one of Lia's middle-school mates. In the current statement, JYP clarified that the police stated that “they were not acknowledging that the posts were true… their decision not to forward the case to the prosecution did not mean they were confirming that Lia had participated in school violence.”
READ MORE
Seventeen 'Your Choice': Air time, full tracklist, comeback schedule, teaser
JYP opens up about claims regarding Lia's school violence
JYP divulges as to why the defamation charge against the social media poster was dismissed and the music label intends to urge another round of investigation. The statement read: "When we first filed a suit against [the individual in question], we were not filing a suit against a victim of school violence, but a suit against posts and comments that we determined to be malicious, like those below..." With attachments of various online posts, JYP added: "The above posts were uploaded on online communities over the course of two years, starting from 2018. It was impossible for us to know who was posting them, and they were not concrete complaints about suffering school violence."
The statement further added, "During the police investigation, we learned that of the five above posts, four of the posts were written by the same individual while switching online nicknames, while one post was written by a different individual." They explained, "however, while the police were still investigating this case, a person who appeared to be the writer of the above posts wrote on another online community last February that they were being investigated by the police. The writer complained in the post that they and their acquaintance had been victims of school violence, but shortly afterward, someone who seemed to be the acquaintance mentioned in the original post uploaded their own post on the same online community, saying that they did not consider the incident in question school violence and that they thought it was not a big deal. After that, the writer of the original post repeatedly uploaded posts before deleting them."
Not have enough proof
Explaining the reason behind the defamation case getting dismissed, JYP added, "the police stated in their press interviews that while they decided not to forward the case to the prosecution because they did not have proof that the posts were false, they were not acknowledging that the posts were true. In other words, they were saying that their decision not to forward the case to the prosecution did not mean they were confirming that Lia had participated in school violence."
JYP wants reinvestigation
The music label noted that they want the case to be re-investigated for the artiste's name to be cleared. They said, "accordingly, our artist and the company plan to file an appeal and request a reinvestigation into the charge of defamation of character through falsehoods. This is because we want the truth to be clearly revealed through a deeper investigation." The statement concluded, "This is because we believe that while it is unacceptable for there to be victims who unfairly suffered [school violence], it is also unacceptable for there to be victims who suffer because of false accusations and distorted claims."
Earlier when the online allegations were made online, JYP Entertainment backed Lia by stating, “We share our position regarding the online post that is causing speculations about our artist Lia. This is a case in which we sued the writer of the post last year for defamation by spreading false rumors. We inform you that the investigation on this case is ongoing and that we are awaiting the results according to formal legal procedures.”