Fans find loopholes in HYBE's response amid reports of Le Sserafim Garam assaulting friends

Three classmates now claim that Garam allegedly hit people with bags and flowerpots and was part of gang fights

UPDATED MAY 21, 2022

HYBE states that Garam was falsely accused when she was given the highest level of punishment by the school violence committee (Le sserafim/Weverse)

TRIGGER WARNING: Mention of suicide.

After weeks of Le Sserafim fans requesting HYBE to release a proper statement regarding Kim Garam's bullying rumors, it seems that it is too late now. The K-pop idol’s bullying controversy exploded on May 19 when the alleged victim’s law firm released an extremely in-depth statement explaining each accusation. HYBE immediately put Garam on hiatus and released their response on May 20 as they refuted each claim, and shared that the alleged victim was actually a bully and that Garam was innocent and a victim.

Had HYBE released the detailed statement before the victim’s revelations, some may have believed it. But after the victim revealed that she had had suicidal thoughts and had simply wanted an apology from Garam for which HYBE is suing her, fans are shocked. And now many netizens believe that there are loopholes in HYBE’s statement while new witnesses are claiming that the Le Sserafim member had even physically assaulted classmates by throwing flowerpots at their heads.

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HYBE releases a statement putting her on a hiatus from all Le Sserafim activities after the legal allegations (Le sserafim/Weverse)

Fans and alleged classmates point out loopholes in Garam’s defence

The Ministry of Education confirmed that Le Sserafim’s Garam had indeed been inflicted with #5 measure of punishment which is the highest level of punishment for physical or sexual assault. In response to this, HYBE said that there was no physical violence involved but Garam’s mother trusted the school and felt it would benefit the school. Fans found it odd that Garam’s mother let her daughter be falsely accused of a serious crime. HYBE had then accused the alleged victim of being a bully as she had reportedly taken a picture of Garam’s friend in her underwear. Fans found it odd that Garam’s friend never spoke about it and why the Le Sserafim member simply accepted the #5 punishment.

One fan analysed the picture and shared that the accuser had not taken the photo in a secret way but was taking her own selfie and Garam and her friend who simply exposed a little bit of skin appeared in the background. There were also rumors that Garam made sexual jokes about wanting to sleep with BTS’ V. HYBE commented that she was never a fan of BTS which fans tore apart as there are public photos of Garam years ago with a phone cover of BTS. We also have more classmates posting stories that there were more than two victims. They furthermore reported that a director from HYBE had come to the school to “shut everyone’s mouth.”

Kim Garam was involved in a scandal just before her debut as several victims alleged that she had bullied them in school (@le_sserafim/Instagram)

Garam’s assault rumors

Another classmate said that Garam used to allegedly throw shopping bags at people and make them kneel in the hallway. The Le Sserafim also used to reportedly curse at the Math teacher and the librarian. A different classmate added that Garam transferred and came to her school and boasted that she transferred because she hit someone in her old school and would not do it anymore because she was going to become an idol. But Garam used to verbally rag a student in their dance club and later apologized and gave her snacks when she got into HYBE.

There is a third netizen sharing that she was in middle school with Garam who got transferred to her school because she used to drink and bunk while in her old school. The netizen claimed that Garam would get into interschool gang fights in which blood would be involved as she would also throw flowerpots which led to one kid getting hospitalized. And now, another lawyer who was observing the case has spoken up. According to the countermeasures, if the alleged victim had simply been assaulted, Garam would have been given a #1 or #3 level of punishment. #5 punishment is given in the rarest of cases.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.