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Nam Joohyuk bullying row: Despite legal action and change in accuser's story, 2nd victim pops up

A second classmate claims the actor would take his phone, make him pay for items and get into fist fights; Joo-hyuk's label has denied the claims

It looks like Nam Joo-hyuk has landed himself in hot water. The actor who has several hit K-dramas under his belt like ‘Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bokjoo’, ‘Start-Up’ and ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’ is now embroiled in a school bullying scandal. With school violence in South Korea being severe and involving physical assault, the general public often drop the accused even if there is no evidence. This has allowed haters to troll celebrities as seen in early 2021 when several K-pop idols were the target of such fake rumors.

Actor Nam Joo-hyuk is in a similar situation with his label time and again sharing that the school bullying accusations are false and that they are taking legal action. Unfortunately, his reputation has now been damaged with the general public being split into those who have turned their backs on him and those who are staying neutral. But the latest accusations from a second alleged victim have hindered any progress in Joo-hyuk’s case in the court of public opinion. On June 28, another former classmate claimed that he had been bullied by the actor.

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Second victim speaks up against Nam Joo-hyuk

Four days after the initial accusations, Nam Joo-hyuk’s label SOOP took legal action on June 24 against the accuser and the media outlet that reported it. The accuser changed his story by claiming that the actor had not bullied him but a friend for six years. However public records showed that Nam Joo-hyuk had only attended that school for three years. After these new developments in the accuser's story, another alleged victim has popped up. On June 28, the second victim claimed that Nam Joo-hyuk bullied him and his friends with violence and abusive language.

The victim said, “I had forgotten the scars of the past, but watching a movie in which Nam Joo-hyuk appeared, the old wounds burst like pus and it was painful.” He added that Joo-hyuk would take his smartphone, make him pay for items and got into fist fights. The victim added that he had a public phobia due to it and decided to speak up after getting confidence from the first alleged victim. However, SOOP has once again denied all bullying claims. The label shared, “We have confirmed the whistleblower’s claim…is also unfounded.”

'This is ridiculous'

While international users and his fans are still on his side as no actual evidence has been revealed yet, Knetizens have more or less dropped Nam Joo-hyuk. With reports coming in that the label never met with the first victim to hear his side, Knetizens made comments like, “I feel really bad for the victim,” “I'm losing all of my respect for them,” and “This is ridiculous. I guess it's the end of his career.”

But fans are pointing out loopholes in the accusations, “First of all they dint evn reveal in which year they were bullied if its before 2010 then all the allegations will b nullified  and I don't knw if schools allowed phones and they said about Hotspot too so most of them must b owning smartphones yet they din't film any bullying.” Another added, “But the first accuser changed his statement & accusations and he isn't even victim according to his new statement so that contradicts with most of the things from this new one n theresn't even solid proof other than these accusations.” One fan shared, “Who tf has it out for Nam Joo Hyuk? Is this really the best you can do?”

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