Le Sserafim Garam bullying row: A timeline of all allegations and HYBE's responses
Trigger Warning: School Bullying, Mentions of Suicide
What started off as HYBE’s first-ever girl group has turned out to be one of the most controversial debuts in the history of K-pop. When HYBE announced the debut of their six-member girl group, Le Sserafim, all eyes were set on who its members would be. But as soon as member Kim Garam was introduced, many allegations about the sixteen-year-old trainee started surfacing online, insinuating that she was a bully while in middle school.
The allegations were initially considered audacious as they referred to Garam involving in extortion, injuring her alleged victims by assaulting them, and bullying them to the extent of driving them to suicide, among many other illegal activities. HYBE's statements over the period have been ambiguous, to say the least, but the most recent one has fans wondering how much power Garam holds over the label. Indeed, it appears HYBE is willing to damage its reputation to protect Garam instead of easily kicking her out of Le Sserafim.
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April 5, 2022 - First allegation against Kim Garam
An anonymous post online stated that Kim Garam was a school bully as soon as she was announced as a member of HYBE’s new girl group, Le Sserafim. The claim also stated that Garam was a part of a gang that bullied kids in school and engaged in other illegal activities, including extortion. Rumors claimed that Garam was supposed to debut with Starship Entertainment’s girl group IVE but was kicked out from the label because she leaked confidential documents.
April 6, 2022 - HYBE and Source Music’s first statement denying the rumors
HYBE responded to the initial claims by refuting all allegations against Kim Garam and stated that Garam was not the perpetrator but a victim of school bullying instead. They also clarified that Garam was never a trainee with any other label, and hence the claims about her leaking certified documents were equally false. HYBE threatened to sue any malicious commenters against Garam and stated that since she is a minor, the issue should not be sensationalized, even as she threatened legal action against the victim.
April 6, 2022 - More comments online ‘exposing’ Kim Garam’s comments about K-pop idols
Following HYBE’s statement, there was a lot of outrage online which had fans talking about how the labels were doing more to defend Kim Garam, a new trainee, than they ever did for the girl group GFriend in the past. New allegations appeared online that suggested Kim Garam’s friends were sending threatening messages to the victim, asking them to delete their comments about her. Rumors intensified when it was stated that there were more victims and also that Garam bragged about being a K-pop trainee and talked about K-pop idols like BTS’ V (Kim Taehyung) in a sexualized manner.
April 7, 2022 - Photos of Kim Garam’s controversial hand gestures and lewd drawings on the chalkboard
More photos surfaced online with allegations against Kim Garam. Photos of Garam showing lewd hand gestures that implied sex made the rounds online. Garam also appeared in a photo standing in front of a chalkboard with drawings of genitals over it. Other photos involving her showed the words “sex” edited over them with claims that she used these photos as her SNS display pictures.
April 23, 2022 - HYBE’s alleged suing of a malicious commenter, fans talking about Garam getting kicked out of the group
With more and more claims surfacing online and HYBE not releasing any new updates about the situation, fans started getting curious. A user online alleged that their parents informed them that they were sued by HYBE when they were at school which caused a lot of chatter about the group. Fans thought that these allegations would negatively affect the new girl group made of IZ*ONE members Chaewon and Sakura and wished for Garam to be kicked out instead of delaying Le Sserafim’s debut.
May 2, 2022 - Le Sserafim makes a debut with Garam
Despite so many allegations against her, Kim Garam made a stunning debut with Le Sserafim on the same date as scheduled. The group’s debut with ‘Fearless’ was a hit as the song did well despite backlash from many fronts.
May 2, 2022 - Kim Garam personally addresses the controversy, and gets the silent treatment from fans in Korea
At the official press conference for the Le Sserafim debut, Kim Garam was asked about the controversy. She responded with another ambiguous statement saying the label was looking into the scandal and that nothing much can be said about the controversy now. The group’s leader also supported the statement. A video surfaced online showing how other Le Sserafim members were cheered on by Korean fans while Kim Garam got the silent treatment.
May 15, 2022 - New evidence released online with Garam’s name mentioned on a school violence document
A leaked school violence committee document surfaced online that labeled Garam as a bully, causing fans to side with the alleged victim.
May 16, 2022 - HYBE and Source Music release an ambiguous statement
The label stood by its original statement and shared that it was taking legal action against the malicious rumors. They hinted that it was difficult to prove Garam’s innocence since the incidents had taken place when she had joined middle school and was getting to know her classmates.
May 19, 2022 - Legal firm Daeryum release their official statement on behalf of the alleged victim, Yoo Eunseo
A legal firm named Daeryum released an official statement on behalf of their client Yoo Eunseo, who was also allegedly a victim of Kim Garam. The firm provided a detailed compilation of incidents, maligning the Le Sserafim member's reputation even further. The firm claimed that HYBE did not respond to the evidence that was sent to the label’s headquarters, which is why the alleged victim was going public with the reports. It was also pointed out that Yoo Eunseo tried to take her own life twice and was receiving psychological treatment besides being put on a break from school.
May 19, 2022 - HYBE and Source Music release a new statement asking for time to review the compilations from the legal firm
HYBE immediately released a new statement calling out the firm for making the details of the incident public without consideration of the individuals involved in the scandal being minors. The label added that the law firm shared a one-sided story that edited out many details and painted Kim Garam in a bad light. HYBE asked for more time to review the compilations before they could come out with a detailed report.
May 20, 2022 - Le Sserafim cancels upcoming schedules
All new events for Le Sserafim including their music show appearances on ‘Music Bank’ and ‘Inkigayo’ get halted.
May 20, 2022 - HYBE and Source Music release a detailed breakdown of the entire scandal from 2018 and respond to recent rumors
HYBE shared a long report with a detailed breakdown of the scandal from June 2018, pointing out how Garam was involved in a mutual argument and not a one-way bullying scandal. The label added claims that Garam was falsely framed by the victim and had to suffer online bullying due to the false claims from Yoo Eunseo. The label also refuted all recent allegations against Garam.
May 20, 2022 - Kim Garam goes on an indefinite hiatus to focus on her psychological health, Le Sserafim to promote as five members
HYBE apologized for Garam’s past actions that were taken negatively by her classmates. They also announced that Garam was reflecting on her past misconduct that included cursing and a confrontational attitude, reiterating that Kim Garam did not bully anyone but was, in fact, bullied online. HYBE added that Garam had suffered a lot of psychological trauma after the allegations and would take some time off to heal. Le Sserafim would continue as five members until Kim Garam would finally return after an indefinite period of hiatus.
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