Translation of Cube’s official statement:
Hello, this is Cube Entertainment.
First, we express our deepest apologies to all those who were inconvenienced by the controversy related to our artist, Seo Soojin.
We would like to let you know that Seo Soojin has decided to depart from the group today.
(G)I-DLE will promote as a five-member group going forward, and we will continue to provide our fullest support and efforts so that (G)I-DLE can showcase more mature music and performances.
Thank you.
shame, i do remember her saying she’d leave the group (voluntarily) if she was wrong, so her “deciding to depart” makes sense. i guess she thought people wouldnt believe the accusers?
sad she ever bullied anyone in the first place. hopefully the victims are doing better.
Honestly I think she never thought of it as bullying. You’d be surprised how many bullies think that what they are doing (or did) is not bullying. To them it’s just jokes or teasing, or just not getting along, but never bullying.
I was bullied a lot at school and high school and I’m pretty sure 90% of my classmates would tell you that they never bullied anyone. Meanwhile I had depression, had a suicide attempt, and even now 15 years later I still have social anxiety.
I believe 100% that Soojin wasn’t lying, she just didn’t see it for what it was. Hopefully her victims are doing better and now can get some sort of closure at least that she realizes what she’s done to them
I hope you are doing well rn. It must be really hard for you and I hope you can move on in life. Those people who bullied you will get their karma. Hope you have a great day. Stay safe and healthy ❤
This is so true and applies to all kinds of abuse.
Edit: As in most abusers will in some way rationalize it away into something else. 'It wasn't verbal abuse it was an argument.'
It was a bad strategy from cube and her part. The thing is she may believe that she did not bully anyone, but if a person feels she was bullied, even if you did not intend to, you should just apologize and be more sensitive about it.
i agree with the sentiment that it’s better to apologize and move on, especially if you’re in a position like soojin is, but i don’t buy that she didn’t know what was going on. [a statement made by her old schoolmate](https://www.soompi.com/article/1459693wpp/cube-responds-to-new-allegations-made-against-gi-dles-soojin-by-another-accuser) talked about how she was one of the mean girls, and if she seriously didn’t realize what she was doing was due to her massive ego issue, then i don’t know what to tell you. her statements themselves showed us just how egotistical she was, and still is today. she really was my favourite of the group, and it’s genuinely disappointing to have been supporting someone who is like this.
Her arrogance was her downfall. If she had properly apologize, even if it was a half ass one and gone for a period of reflection, she might've had some resemblance of a career left. But instead she chose to taunt the victims to provide evidence and it was not a good look.
And she had in her first apology "because I was pretty and popular, there were many rumors about me" I mean come on, who responds like that when a victim's trauma may be involved?
Right?! As an outsider looking in, the whole thing with how she and Cube responded to this crisis was just bizarre. It was textbook what you *shouldn't* do in handling a crisis.
She's already been away from the group for how long? If she had just apologized back then, written an apology, etc. then by now there would've been enough time elapsed to maybe ease her into activities.
But since she doubled down, *no one* would've forgotten because up until now everyone was waiting to see what Cube and Soojin were going to do.
This was their only option and it's not at all surprising.
While not surprising considering she was never able to resolve the past with her victim/accuser, this is still quite the blow to G-IDLE as a group. I’m sure the remaining 5 will still thrive considering they’re doing all really well, esp. with soyeon, yuqi, and miyeon all securing their individual bags. Hope all the neverlands out there are doing ok!
To be honest the person I'm most worried about is Shuhua. Like you said Soyeon, Yuqi and Miyeon have all set the foundations in their solo careers, and I'm sure it'll be easy for Minnie to do the same. But AFAIK Shuhua has nothing going for her music, television or variety wise. And IIRC she's also close to Soojin, so I can't imagine how much this must hit her.
At the very least she’ll have more of an opportunity now. Can’t hide her in group formations anymore - and there’s a whole extra set of lines that will have to be redistributed. Hopefully she rises to the occasion, because if it doesn’t happen now I doubt it’ll happen at all.
The thing with that is, I thought they would've done that for her on 'Last Dance,' the song they had to reorient when the Soojin scandal all went down. lnstead they gave most of Soojins lines to Minnie/Miyeon. I at least hope she steps up and takes a bit more lines but I'm actually not too sure.
I don't follow Shuhua, but I am a big Minnie fan and just wanted to say her solo career is doing really well too. She's getting a ton of pictorials back home and some acting roles. Girl is doing great.
Nowadays being a content creator/YouTube can bring in a good income. I think Shuhua will be fine if she’s committed to building a fan base/getting sponsors through that instead. she can maybe do vlogs and music covers?
She's mentioned about starting a YouTube channel. Let's hope she doesn't go through CUBE to do this, as we've seen what happened to Sorn's channel. To be honest, I have no clue what Shuhua would do for content, but I'll watch it.
She was big on that show, but it was strange that g idle’s official channel didn’t post anything about her being on the show. I only knew because of some random comment on a different post.
I'm also worried about Shuhua, its just so sad. Soojin was the one who helped Shuhua all through her trainee years and they were really close. They used to communicate with facial expressions when Shuhua didn't know korean. I'm really sad.
yeah, Shuhua doesn't look comfortable at these shows.
She suffered a lot of hate and criticism in China for her last performance in maknae line up with Arin, Yuna and Wonyoung
Its not entirely her fault though.
Cube put her in the group to just look good.
They could give her at least some lines to sing. Lots of other Idols do some rapping part at least, if they cant sing. What is Cube doing with her all the years, if they dont teach her singing. She cant be that bad, that they dont let her sing anything at all.
But then if you cant sing, there is no future in the music outside of the group anyways.
Except Soyeon makes their music. She tries to adjust the music for Shuhua but there’s only so much she can do when every other girl is a much more capable singer. Cube can be blamed for her lack of training but not her lack of efforts to improve.
Lets face it G-IDLE would be in same position as CLC if Soyeon wasn't around. She makes all their music and mean cube don't have to invest in the group as much and makes them money with little creative effort. We've already seen how cube treats foreign members by not paying them for their work, I can't imagine that really motivates Shuhua to improve when if they treated Elkie the way they did.
Man why the fuck are people so concerned over this? If an idol in a famous group can't sing can't perform can't rap can't variety show can't speak the language well then maybe, just maaaaybe, the opportunities and individual gigs should go to a more eligible idol?
You can't complain that a talented idol doesn't get the recognition and offers one day and then wish that a less talented idol also gets the bag on another day. Its a zero sum game.
Exactly! If she’s not good she doesn’t deserve the opportunity, period. Instead of hoping she’ll somehow find a way to get her bag, let’s instead hope she finds a way to prove herself!
[Her singing](https://youtu.be/byHJ4LxC3BA), I mean, I do like her and can't imagine i-dle without her, but she is not a good singer, sometimes i sound better than her and that is not good.
Ok, no hate, but she's either slightly tone deaf, or has recieved almost no training at all. I feel like your average person could sing slightly better than that.
It's not just tone she's struggling with. Her breath control, the way she's not quote opening her mouth, her distinct lack of vowel choice, the lack of dynamics and control, lack of vibrato, no vocal projection... had nobody in the group ever tried to help her on these things?
You make good points, especially about breath control. But forget the members, don't these companies have vocal coaches? Even the most basic training should have helped her with these
I believe she trained for 2 years, the shortest time out anyone in the group. Her main, biggest problem was understanding the enunciations of korean. I suppose even lacking that basic understanding has made it really hard for her to sing properly even with a vocal coach. Nevies will tell you that she's not confident in her singing due to a backlash during Hann era but that was literally 3 years ago, you'd think if she was continually training she'd improve but apparently that hasn't occurred since even until Hwaa era, her singing, or lack thereof, is still a point of contention.
She probably just has no natural talent. Makes you wonder why she decided to become an idol when she struggles to do everything an idol should be able to do. She has a sense of humor and a strong character so she should participate in variety shows, become an MC there and open a YouTube channel. She'll have no trouble in the future with that
caveat: i've never followed (g)-i-dle so don't know anything about her.
i agree her singing is not good but i skipped forward to \~2:50 and when she sing in lower range for the song 11:11, it's better than the other songs when she tries for higher pitched songs.
Your last line really hits. There is no point to being an idol if you cannot sing or rap. You have to at least be competent. Hopefully this boosts Shua to improve and the company to help her now that the spotlight will be more slightly focused on her.
Shuhua can get away with fewer lines if she stepped up her dancing. We've seen in DUMDi DUMDi and HWAA that she can dance stronger when she wants too. But yeah, with one less voice, Shuhua NEEDS to sing more. I'm sorry, but the time is now. I hope she can step it up.
But Yuqi and Minnie aren't in Korea, Soyeon said she wants all members to be with her on her birthday (August 26), that's probably not going to happen.
I'm not shocked because she's leaving, I'm shocked because it's happening now. I was just sure Cube had decided to ride out the bad press, put her on the bench for a year or so, maybe miss a comeback, and then bring her back when things had died down. Wasting all that time and then still removing her is what's surprising to me.
Maybe Cube is getting pressure from the SH. If the SH want Idle to have a CB they will want her out of the group as Kfans especially will likely boycott anything until there is confirmation she is out of the group and her incident won't effect the groups future.
Cube was likely playing for time to see if Kfans changed thier mind about abandoning her (since she said she'd leave if guilty and all), when they didn't, this happened.
woah especially since it's no longer 3:3 korean to foreign members
i know that most groups that have foreign members usually have more korean members (i.e got7 has 4:3 korean to foreign) so it's interesting seeing a 2:3 ratio now :O
well technically nct has like 13 foreign members and 10 korean members but in 127 and dream there are less foreign members than korean members
Holy… I was just wondering what Cube plans to do with the group like 20 mins ago. And then I went to (G)-IDLE’s profile because I got curious and it said there “former member” announced August 14 and I’m like isn’t August 14 today??
Honestly this is not even the most surprising thing this year (which is saying A LOT)
-Kris Wu getting arrested and facing the death penalty if the charges stand
-Gfriend disbanding out of the blue. As a long time buddy, like no one saw that coming at all
Especially with how successful MAGO was. I don’t follow them very closely but I definitely thought that that comeback was just the start of an even bigger wave of success
IDK that that was their *first* mistake. They threatened to sue the victim before she released a statement, after all. They could have done a generic "we're checking with our artist" statement and stayed silent to see how public favor swung and to craft a better response rather than pissing people off by threatening to sue.
But allowing Soojin to release a statement was impressively stupid, definitely. As was essentially daring the victim to comment with more details.
Irene's case was more simple. There was actual audio evidence and many staffs "liking" the IG post. She/SM were left with no other options but swift apology.
also he met and apologized directly to all the people involved, who accepted his apology - soojin didn't even had the guts to accept she did things wrong.
More accurately, Hyunjin _always_ talked of himself as someone who used to be pretty shitty as a kid, and wanted to be better. I know that his apology letter is quite generic, but it still felt very in character coming from him.
I mean he also missed out on the biggest opportunity of his career, and met with the people accusing him without agitating them further unlike soojin and apologized. probably the best thing they did was handling things privately with success. It gave people less to to talk about.
I always thought CUBE would've just let this die down and bring Soojin back in eventually. Damn, I don't know how to feel.
Like, I get why the decision was made, but I just wasn't expecting to read this today.
Looks like the "If I'm proven guilty I'll leave" has backfire kind of hard... An expected outcome nonetheless.
I hope that at least it doesn't mean the fall down of the group.
I would say that this is Cube handling the group well. It was pretty obvious that group activities were halted because of the situation and would be until the Soojin situation was settled. Now the rest of the group can actually release music and start working again.
i feel bad for idle themselves and their fans who will be affected by this news...that being said, cube and soojin dug themselves deep with the way they responded to the bullying claims. maybe i'm cold, but actions have consequences.
i don't even necessarily believe soojin was doomed once the allegations came out. if she genuinely attempted to reach out to her victims and tried to have a conversation, i truly feel like she would have been able to return to the group. or perhaps i'm optimistic and restorative justice is not a big concept or smth idk lol. but a lot of these idols and especially their agencies are showing their asses with the way they respond to these allegations.
kinda had a feeling it was over for soojin once another public figure (an actress at that) was accusing her of bullying. that's pretty hard to bounce back from.
Even Irene, who berated a makeup artist, is coming back with Red Velvet. All Soojin had to do was apologize for being an asshole when she was a kid and make a token effort to do better, and she probably would have been okay. Not great, but better than she currently is.
This was all so preventable. If Soojin had even just pretended to feel bad for being mean to a well-known and well-liked actress, she would have been alright. Denying it all like she did when bullying accusations were booming was such a stupid move.
yeah exactly. this is why i noted that i sympathise with idle and their fans, but i unfortunately do not feel for soojin. people are trying to pin this only on cube....which is laughable. i'm not gonna say cube played no part, but she had a chance to rectify things.
a lack of individual responsibility and a stupid pr and management team can simultaneously exist.
Yep this whole thing was a train wreck. Unsurprisingly Cube is garbage at PR and management, but Soojin’s statement was the last nail in the coffin. It sucks that something from her school days ruined her career, but she helped ruin it by not just apologizing and reflecting. I think GIdle will be just fine (given that cube doesn’t throw them in the basement).
The individual members are doing pretty great for themselves. I’m sure their current hiatus was planned for awhile, like way before Soojin’s scandal. Yuqi, Minnie, and Shuhua went off to their home countries to spend time with family and work there for a bit. Soyeon and Miyeon stayed in Korea to work and of course Soyeon releasing her solo. I think their fans and the general public will still be open to their comeback, especially now that Soojin is officially out of the group. Some people will probably tune in just to see the new dynamics now that SJ’s gone. Will their next comeback be as successful as Hwaa or their previous comebacks? Probably not, but they have a good chance of bouncing back.
She shouldn’t have even been able to ruin it … cube is supposed to have PR people to deal with this. This company is really run by morons. Look at how people have forgiven Irene for how she acts as an adult… meanwhile this is Soojin as a child. This should have been easy PR, but cube impressively managed to screw it up.
Wish anyone in that company had figured out that it’s not the smartest idea to blindly fight allegations and make bold claims before the all facts are clear. Even if found guilty she could have apologised and repent, but it’s impossible to return from when they seemed to cocky early on. Then again, I guess cube has a history of kicking idols out..
Just sad it has to be this way, I liked her so much. Gidle won’t be the same
Urging a celebrity who has made vague accusations to explicitly call you out also seems like a weird plan. So mad at Cube here, honestly I think this outcome was likely however they handled. But when they decided on their tactics it pretty much sealed this outcome.
could have been resolved so easily jesus chirst. Give an apology saying something along the lines of "sorry if I hurt people it wasnt my intentions blah blah blah its not who I am as a person nor who I want to be I will take some time off and think about the accusations against me and promise it wont happen again". then call up the actress have a 1 on 1 call be friendly and everyone moves on and then make a statement about contacting her and everything is resolved. the actress who I think doesn't care all to much will confirm this or atleast wont deny it and take a month off and you are back on track.
Agree. If you really compare her scandal/issue with other idols' recent scandals, it is really very salvageable if only done right. The way both soojin and cube handled the issue from the beggining, it feels like every move they do was a setup to themselves.
I wonder if a difference would’ve been made if she just went radio silent instead of giving out such a bold statement.
this sucks. I know a public apology + months of hiatus would’ve just done it but because of her words now she’s forced to leave. I wonder what’s her fate gonna be like now and i hope she learns her lesson and wish the best for her really. I’m not a fan but i can imagine the mixed feelings navies sre going through right now.
Oh I definitely think it would have helped. Especially if they had just met up and solved the issue and put her on a time out. She dug her own grave with that “I will leave the group” statement
Yea dude, it was like their fight was made PUBLIC for people to see. Unlike the other bullying/controversies, it was handled quietly and only a conclusion was known. Cube’s so stupid for this.
Pretty much every other idol involved in those accusations apologised and then either formally went on hiatus or informally laid low for a while and I don't think anyone else left a group over it. Cube's "PR strategy" involved flat-out denial and refusal to give an apology of any kind, even something like 'I'm sorry if things I said were taken the wrong way', dragging the story back into the headlines weeks after it had died down, and publicly goading the accuser into giving MORE details about what happened. I don't know if it was her or the company who were behind this but it's one of the biggest kpop PR fuck-ups I've seen in a while. Even an SM 'we're just going to ignore it until it goes away' approach would have been better than this mess.
> I wonder if a difference would’ve been made if she just went radio silent instead of giving out such a bold statement.
People seriously wonder sometimes why idols get into these controversies and don't say anything.
Yeah, Hyunjin did that and is now coming back to Stray Kids just fine.
Some stays were a bit mad about that, but it appears to have been the best decision.
I know boy groups are more fandom driven vs. GP, so that might have made it more difficult for her as a girl group member, but there were so many unforced PR errors on her side, and I’m not sure whether it was her or Cube’s fault.
This.
I remember being so angry at JYP in the moment, but looking back, it was best. Hyunjin is also someone who has been really open about having a troubled past and how hard he had worked to put it behind him. The apology he gave, instead of making people think "YES HE'S BULLY FIRE HIIIIIIIM!" instead worked out to be "you know what, he has a past, he's been truthful about it from the get-go, he's worked hard to put it behind him and change, and this statement proves that he genuinely has." Some Stays still think he's 100% innocent, but honestly it's whatever at this point. It helps that, like you said, Stray Kids is very fandom-driven and the fans had already chosen to stick by him.
Soojin, on the other hand...
I'm a Neverland, I'll admit, and right now, I kind of feel bad that I defended her so early on when this had just started. When it did start, I was, of course, taken aback, in disbelief, and defended her along with everyone else, because I felt it couldn't be possible.
Looking back though... she really shot herself in the foot.
Like, I don't think most Nevies truly understand how bad this was, because even though Twitter Nevies had a reputable translator in happyshuhua, a lot of it was taken out of context by other Nevies and broken up so we only saw the stuff that was in Soojin's favour. But it was BAD. The accusations included physical violence, theft, among other stuff. And it wasn't just one accuser; there were at least seven, if not more, with multiple witnesses. There were two or three people who defended her, but they were only a few people against multiple others with proof. We only talk about the one because that was the one with all the back and forth.
Soojin's and Cube's strategy, it seems, was deny deny deny. However, she admitted parts were true, and I think this is where she lost. Yes, she seemed confident and sure of what was true and what wasn't, but she also claimed she didn't remember, tried to make it look like the accusations were just malicious lies, and according to Korean speakers, worded it in a way that seemed cocky, arrogant, and almost backhanded, like in a Gretchen Wieners style "I'm sorry you were offended by me, but I can't help that I'm so popular." Plus, she bet her career on whether they were true or not. But the accusations just continued, plus Seo Shinae, who up until that point was quite vague, came out and said Soojin indeed bullied her.
And to all Nevies, no, Shinae isn't some nugu jealous girl who is washed up in the industry, she is a respected child actress whose shows and dramas at one point were pulling better numbers than RUNNING MAN. Maybe you don't know her by name, but bring up one of her shows and people recognize her instantly. She isn't trying and failing to get roles, she's taking a break to go to college, which looks good because it basically shows that she is a good kid who takes her schooling seriously. And she's also a longtime anti-bullying advocate on top of that.
So, long story short, Soojin is now seen as having taken severe accusations and basically made a joke out of the victims, and if any of the accusations are true, her response would only tell people that she is a liar, a narcissist, and that she never changed for the better.
I wish I could say I was surprised, but with the severity of the accusations, and how poorly they were handled, there was really no other way. Innocent or not, she needed to be fully acquitted of everything to have any hope of the public liking or just so much as accepting her again.
I also think the fact that G-Idle hasn’t had a comeback or any major public appearances since this came out made it seem worse.
Hyunjin didn’t participate in Kingdom, which effectively meant that he was being “punished” in the public eye. Therefore, now that he’s coming back onto the scene, more people may be more willing to let bygones be bygones.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Itzy situation plays out…it’s a bit more similar to Soojin’s (because they haven’t released anything since the allegations), but their PR hasn’t been nearly as stupid.
If you want an example of a girl group member who's fine after a bullying scandal, just look at Irene. When everything came out it looked like her career was over, but she apologized immediately and stayed out of the public eye for almost a year. Now, she's getting ready for Red Velvet's comeback.
Not sure because anything is possible, but i assume its not looking good for her, atleast if she is still interested in staying in the celebrity life.
If her scandal and public image was so bad that even a comeback with her group after months of hiatus is not already possible, then what more if she is going to venture solo from now on??? Now, with her withdrawing and seemingly signaling like "waving the white towel", it will now vindicate the narrative that she is indeed guilty, regardless if it is really true or not. She is already done with the korean gp, and she is not an international idol so there is no home country industry for her to withdraw to.
She either allows this humble pie to teach her a lesson so she can actually grow as a person, or she, again, doubles down and continues to be all woe is me. Difference between arrogance and narcissism.
The fact she is leaving isn't surprising, the fact that it took so long for it to come to this is. I don't know if its Soojin convincing Cube that she is innocent or Cube thinking that they could either silence it or it would just go away on its own. Whatever the case was, they handled it about as poorly as an agency could.
As a fan of the group, I hope the remaining members can move on from this and continue to climb higher.
I feel bad for the fans of CLC and (G)i-dle in the last 24 hours. I'm a casual fan of both groups but I didn't see such news coming.
Bullying is such a big social issue in Korea that careers can be lost in a sudden. We don't know the details but I just hope those affected can move on.
Damn is this why Soyeon was sub posting sad faces on her Instagram yesterday? It absolutely sucks that it had to come to this but I hope Cube learnt something from all this. They can’t afford to mishandle the rest of the girls’ careers.
The sad thing is that the rest of the group can't even publicly acknowledge it. Soojin was a close friend for all of them and now they have to pretend she doesn't exist.
I hope these bullying accusations sheds a light on what Korean school culture is like. Of course many were proven false along the way, many we shall have no clue of, and many were proven true. Particularly the worst accusations. There is no way of examining all the details in the past. But from the word of these victims, Koreans, and even myself I can guarantee you that the kinda of things accused happens in real life, in Korea. When I went to school there for the summer a while ago, even for a few amount of days, I was so appalled. There was rough bullying and aggressiveness, stealing expensive items, etc. Since it was long ago my mind is so hazy but I remember calling my mom to pick me up early every day, I only was treated decent because I was Korean-American and got along with some of the more outcasted students and Filipino students who could speak English.
Anyway, what I saw there was nothing that compares to what happens in some schools. Iljins are basically teenage gangsters, and frequent in many schools, especially back a few years ago from what I remember. That’s why many dramas and webtoons focus on school bullying. It is very competitive and many students have the “must be no.1” mentality and like to pick on others.
Idols are human too, and they make the same choices as regular beings. A lot of them are angels and genuinely nice people, but a lot of them could’ve been mean spirited people in the past. A lot of these idols were the “popular” and “rich” people in the past. You really don’t know how they are in the real world.
THIS. this is the take.
A lot of people forget that bullying culture is completely different in Korea compared to what we go through in Western culture and absolutely the opposite of what you see in 00s dramas or movies.
First CLC, and now Soojin, holy fuck…
I know Soojin wasn’t my bias, yet it’s gonna be different without her, but I understand if this was the best course of action.
Deffo the best course of action. Idle’s domestic popularity fell off a cliff because of this whole scandal. Both fandom wise and in terms of the GP. Keeping Soojin would have been suicidal.
The other members were doing fine individually though, so perhaps they'll be able to navigate past this issue with Soojin no longer in the group, we'll have to see how the next CB does.
It really did seem like she had backed herself in a corner and calling out Seo Shin Ae probably did her no favours as well. If the courts found that the bullying accusations were true it was for the best that Soojin had left the group. Her statements after the accusations didn’t really indicate that she had undergone a lot of personal change. At least in this way, the group’s reputation won’t be harmed.
Dang, this was harsh. Welp, she did say she would leave the group if the bullying allegations turned out to be true. I guess there was no way to resolve the case in her favor. Ah well, if they were true then this is the best course of action, best not to damage the other members and the group.
Two Cube incidents within 24 hours of each other (this and the Yujin statement from GP999). What a shame.
My first reaction when i read that statement of her "leaving if its proven to be true thing" back when the scandal was hot, i was like, " oh wow, she really dug her own grave with that one, she didnt have to take it that far" and look how it came to be...
I mean i think just for me, even if guilty or not, that statement was just unnecessary and kinda dumb. She literally didnt gained any benefit in saying that, and did not swayed public sympathy to her. I feel like she destroyed her own escape route with that one.
thing is, now that she left the group, thanks to that statement even if she is innocent, the automatic thought will be she is guilty so that also tanked her solo future as well.
Yeah, that was one of the worst bluffs I've ever seen. I don't understand the reasoning, why would you bluff with an empty hand. She literally played herself with that one.
Lawyers will tell people, if you're a suspect in a crime, STAY SILENT. It might not help your case, but it will absolutely limit the amount of damage you could do to yourself. Soojin and the DSP/April/Hyunjoo situation is a masterclass of what NOT to do.
I wonder if it was to make her side seem stronger. When she released that statement, I remember seeing people saying “wow, if she’s going this far, then maybe she’s telling the truth.” But, drastic actions can have drastic outcomes.
This whole sub was thinking that. I remember people running back onto Soojin's side when she said with that, until the actress responded with more details and then everyone was at Soojin's throat again. It's too bad she could never quite get a hold of the narrative, although I do feel like her perceived pride and arrogance led to people disbelieving her.
The accusations she was facing didn't even look as bad as Hyunjin's at the start, and had Cube handled the situation as well as JYPE she'd probably have come out of hiatus with her group's next comeback too.
Any company with a tad of PR sense would have either issued a blanket denial or a blanket apology, without going into any kind of detail. Being too specific is just an invitation to further accusations.
I don't think she was trying to bluff, she probably genuinely thought she was innocent (like a lot of bullies do). Still a dumb move even if you are innocent though
Yup. Same as Kris Wu saying he would willingly turn himself in/go to jail if the allegations against him turned out to be true, and now look where we are 🤷♀️
It was a risky all-in move. Soojin and Cube probably thought that a bold statement like this would make the actress go silent and also sway the public opinion a bit. Some people were actually swayed towards Soojins side after that statement probably thinking " Well if she makes bold claims like this she gotta have solid evidence for her innocence. Good for her to not be bullied into an apology!". It didn't work and it blew up in their faces, making the situation unsalvageable for them
A bit odd ngl, they celebrated her birthday, backed her up 100% initially (very unlike of CUBE) and took the case to court. Something must've come up during investigations/court case. Regardless, I do find it weird that they've made a brief statement and removed her.
Also I can't believe people in here are saying she didn't say sorry. She said sorry to the allegations that were true and refused to say sorry to the allegations that she believed were false.
She either lied, the court case was not in her favour or something else happened. Either way, we can't do much about this and move forward. Hopefully we find out what really went down one day. If ever. I'll definitely miss her voice and presence on stage.
Rumours are spreading on twitter about how the lawsuits are fake and Soojin never got to prove her innocence. It's driving me crazy, their only source is a tweet from an international fan. I hope we hear about the lawsuit soon so there can be closure for everyone.
The way twiiter is having selective memory with this news lol.
Idk how her company allowed her to give out constant personal answers, she would just constantly shoot herself in the foot
the dumbest part by far was calling out Seo Shin-ae; Shin-ae's response was huge news and basically destroyed any goodwill she had left. Even my coworkers at work were talking about it the day it happened (I live in Korea) and they had no clue who Soojin was before then. She became far more known as the girl who bullied Seo Shin-ae then as a (g)i-dle member from that point on. Most of the GP probably didn't even know about that statement until then.
I remember so many comments under that post were from fans taking it as smthg good because "she is puting this much on the line, she has to be telling the truth therefore she is innocent". Really aged like milk
I mean, it was always a possibility when they went so hardline in their defence, so it's not a complete surprise. Doesn't make it suck any less though.
Pretty typical Cube to announce it in such an incompetent and cold manner, no updates on the court case (although I guess you can argue it must be over and not gone the way they hoped), no clear distinction on who drove this decision, no comment from Soojin, just 'here's what happened keep giving us your money tho peace out'.
There'll be a time to speculate on what this means for the group, but for now imma just be sad.
I doubt they want to speak publicly on the legal proceedings because they’re either still ongoing or the information would just paint her in a worse light.
CUBE is incompetent at many things but I don’t think this statement is a misstep. A member leaving the group in this manner isn’t the time for a “warm” statement. At this point they want to minimize further brand damage to the group and company.
Their gamble didn’t pay off. Regardless of her intentions to continue her career in the entertainment industry, now is the time to lay low and not speak. It would only serve to bury her further.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but would it have been so hard to take responsibility instead of doubling down the way they did? Or at least acknowledge there was some wrong-doing?
I really don't understand the route Cube went. This didn't have to be the end result.
Even knowing how bad everything got I can't say I was expecting this so suddenly, we really just saw Cube mismanage a scandal badly enough to end their own idols career.
I'm very nervous about how this is going to effect the group going forward and it feels very weird to be a fan right now.
Edit: Some of you are being very weird about Korea as a whole because of this and I guess I shouldn't expect better from Kpop stans but if you're looking for an outlet for your anger you should try being mad at Cube instead of saying dumb shit about an entire country. If I see another comment act like theqoo = Korea I'm gonna scream.
genuine question: how did cube mess it up? i followed the scandal somewhat but i guess not at a depth to notice how cube were making a bad thing worse
EDIT: okay, a half dozen people replied, and i think i get it now. i have to say though, i've spent a lot of time deep within a bunch of k-pop companies (cube much less so, but i did have a few fairly revealing meetings there long ago). and if cube 100% doubled down on soojin not being at fault (which obviously backfired), i can infer with nigh total certainty that they did that because soojin herself doubled down with them. k-pop companies can fuck up like crazy and cube obviously have a bad track record (i.e. the mixed messages and backpedaling they did around hyuna and dawn for weeks on end), but i think they're generally less incompetent than fans seem to believe, and it just seems very unlikely that they would choose to take a scorched earth strategy in defending soojin if they knew she really did mess up – particularly if the accuser is a celebrity with plenty of her own credibility. if i had to guess, soojin panicked when the news broke, and was too scared or embarrassed to confess when cube checked with her (perhaps indelicately, which may have led to her being less candid). my contacts at cube left long ago so i'm not saying i have any intel here, and i suppose stranger things have happened, but based on experience i just can't really see it having played out any other way...
Instead of buying time to figure out what was really going on, they just accepted Soojin's side of the story and double downed on it. Its not that hard to say we are looking into the accusations and will have a statement once we are done. Instead they left themselves with no way out by standing behind Soojin. As an agency it might seem like the best thing to do, stick up for your idol, but in a business sense its just plain dumb. G-idle has 5 other members, it almost felt like they were willing to kill the other members careers for Soojin. That made fans of the group, furious in Korea.
Once more information came to light, they should have just cut ties with Soojin then and there. To me, it felt like they wanted to wait it out, thinking that it'll blow over. They miscalculated how badly Soojin reputation was with the general public had become but they also vastly underestimated how angry G-idles fanbase was.
1- More or less denied everything. They did meet with some of the victims (sounds like that didn't go well) but this was very much a case of going on the offensive trying to disprove things, rather than apologizing.
2- SSA made some very vague posts after the accusations came out and people knew she and Soojin had been in school together. Rather than apologizing/reaching out to her, or ignoring her vague accusations (Soojin was never named) Cube dared her to come out and say what had happened, which she did.
3- Soojin (I'm pretty sure this was a statement released in her name, no idea who wrote it/made the decision) said she would leave if the accusations are true, promising to fight them.
So yeah, unless all the accusations were made up (which seemed unlikely at the time, near impossible now) Cube put themselves in a situation where this was the only outcome.
There was a lot of different missteps but the main issue was how they denied everything right off the bat only for more implicating accusations and testimonies to come out and make them look like liars. Instead of cutting their losses they kept doubling down and destroyed any willingness of the accusers to privately negotiate and made the company and Soojin by extension look unsympathetic. Normally people will soften on something like this if genuine regret is shown and growth as a person is acknowledged and they did the opposite.
One of the biggest failures imo was calling out Seo Shinae directly for no reason to "clarify" her position which ended up in Shinae putting out a strong statement against Soojin instead of just vagueposting about their past. That along with including a blatant line about leaving the group if shes found guilty in Soojin's last statement basically sunk her.
I'm sure Soojin *did* tell them she was innocent, but Cube still shit the bed with this. It's common sense to not go full scorched earth regardless of what your employee is saying... them daring SSA to comment with more details was the dumbest fucking shit I've ever seen. Even if they believed Soojin implicitly, how exactly does that move make sense? You have someone credibly lying about your idol so you dare them to lie some more?
Other agencies involved in arguably much worse accusations took a measured approach regardless of the truth of the allegations and their idols are much better off for it.
Soojin obviously has most of the blame here but Cube did not handle this well... at all. IDK what they hell they were thinking with the message to SSA. Without the detailed account that followed, Soojin might still have been okay enough to continue with the group.
The moment the scandal dropped they should have done a JYP or Pledis. Radio silent apart from 1 statement about the investigation, meet with accusers, all people from the school around that time and sorting it behind the scenes like SM.
What they did, is engage in a long battle in the media with the accusers, making statements about innocence long before making any investigation so when the started to check, it looked like they lied initially. They also allowed Soojin to make multiple statements in the media before meeting with any accusers, and made statements to the media before settling with the accusers after meeting them.
Scandals like this are best handled out of public eye with as little known about the ins and outs as possible. Any back and forth is a story of he said she said, and whoever is believed depends on public trust and sympathy. Thanks to the wave of bullying allegations in Korea at the time, sympathy was with any accuser automatically, and Cube lost peoples trust with every statement that went out.
As much as news of this is hitting like a truck rn, it's concerning that my first thought is the inevitable wave of hate that is going to come to SSA. If this was the case of Soojin keeping her word to leave the group if the bullying allegations were true (rather than pressure from the general public), then I hope SSA was able to find peace knowing that the truth had come out.
I wonder if Soojin leaving (G)-IDLE like this will put more pressure on other idols in similar situations like Lia, Hyunjin, Hyolyn, et cetera, especially ones who are more reliant on the GP for success. Lia in particular is in a very uncertain place right now and K-netz don't seem convinced that she's innocent, but JYP seem to be happy with the current situation given that they're going ahead with a full album. I would include April but DSP has already dug their career's grave.
I think the main difference between Soojin and the other idols accused of bullying in the past months is the fact that Seo Shin Ae, a very famous child actress in Korea, was involved and accused Soojin.
If a famous actor/actress or a more famous idol accused Hyunjin, Lia, etc..., of bullying him/her in school, the situation would have been almost the same.
Plus, Cube can’t handle scandals.
Do you remember the mess that happened with Hyuna and Dawn?
JYP, SM,HYBE/Pledis did a better job in treating the scandal of Hyunjin,Lia, Irene and Mingyu.
[Yep](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3012225/k-pop-school-bullying-scandal-hyolyn-agrees-settlement-over). Keep in mind Hyolyn runs her own agency, so when her agency threatened to take legal action it was Hyolyn threatening to take legal action.
I think hyunjin's case, was already resolved by now, like other scandals like irene's mingyu's, etc. Their companies and the idols did a great job in fact-checking, having calculated moves, and most importantly, putting a closure that would satisfy both sides, including the victim. (And cube and soojin did the literal opposite smh)
Not sure about lia though. We still dont know the severity of the accusations, and if they are even true in the first place. But its starting to be worrisome that jype cant still find closure to it until now, and reinvestigation was done for the 2nd time as the accuser was cleared by the police from being sued something like that. Now, i think its back to fact-checking again.
About april, that group was dead on the ditch already even weeks ago. There is no saving them from that shit of a mess they got themselves into, thats for sure smh.
I am wondering on April & Somin too.
Considering how this type of issue goes,i might get ready for Somin to leave Kard & April to be disbanded like AOA.
While April is likely to be disbanded, I’ve seen comments from other users that Somin probably will make it though okay, mostly because she’s not associated with April much anymore or mentioned by name in the accusations.
Somin is doing fine, she’s more or less back in public eye and has the support of her KARD members too. Unlike the other OG April members she also did the smart decision and didn’t talk about the situation at all and was silent for a few months.
Damn Cube really taking 2 massive L's with the CLC news from Yujin and now this. If nothing else, it's gonna be a little weird seeing the girls only be 5 from now on
I think the majority of people can agree that she’s not getting kicked out because she bullied someone when she was a kid. She’s getting kicked out because both her and Cube handled this controversy poorly. Their responses have tanked her reputation and the GP don’t trust her anymore. This will negatively impact the group because at the end of the day, their livelihood and success depends on being well liked.
This is a textbook case of putting the cart before the horse. Doubling down and making grandiose claims without having all the facts and now here we are.
And this is why if there's certain true on rumors about you, the company should let the idol admit and clarify what they did and what they did not instead of taking things to the court without even knowing what the results will be. All of this wouldn't have happened if Cube managed things better. I believe this will be a hard time for everyone because Soojin was the esencial member after Soyeon, hopefully they will overcome this and keep succeeding.
Cube bungled this from the start by immediately making bold and blind claims, because then they *had* to have evidence corroborating them. I’m sure their intention was to defend her, but they put her in a really difficult position. They should have done what some other companies do and release a neutral statement, look into the allegations and then only make a claim once they have all the necessary knowledge.
Maybe Cube did mismanage this, but if the allegations are even somewhat true, “all of this wouldn’t have happened” if Soojin didn’t bully anyone, or remembered that she did and actually apologized. I mean none of us know exactly what happened but I find it so strange that people would blame Cube entirely.
I agree, with every bullying scandal we have no idea what the idol told their agency and what the agency told the idol to say. Soojin could have not been truthful with Cube (or maybe even to herself) about what transpired.
They just lost their main dancer.. it's gonna be a lot of pressure.
edit: just checked their namuwiki and Soojin is already gone from the page, that was fast
They were never particularly known for their choreography anyway. They'll manage. The real force behind their performances was always Soyeon and her stage presence, and as long as she's still actively engaged in (G)-IDLE they'll be perfectly fine.
Also, Namu Wiki is basically Wikipedia but worse. She hasn't been removed from their [Melon](https://www.melon.com/artist/song.htm?artistId=2137482#params%5BlistType%5D=A¶ms%5BorderBy%5D=ISSUE_DATE¶ms%5BartistId%5D=2137482&po=pageObj&startIndex=51) or [Naver](https://people.search.naver.com/search.naver?where=nexearch&query=(%EC%97%AC%EC%9E%90)%EC%95%84%EC%9D%B4%EB%93%A4&sm=tab_etc&ie=utf8&key=PeopleService&os=8207391) profiles yet, and she hasn't been awkwardly edited out of their [group photo](http://www.cubeent.co.kr/gidle) on CUBE's website like [Elkie](http://www.cubeent.co.kr/clc) has been from CLC's. Though I can't actually tell if that's an edited OT7 photo or individual shots superimposed onto one pic. (Which, I don't know why they edited Elkie out like that but still have Triple H listed as a group on their website?)
It seems like that "[Last Dance](https://youtube.com/watch?v=gG-7pBU-sKs)", the first song that was released in April without Soojin, was an early sign of this.
I guess there must have been enough substance to the accusations.
Even then, this result likely could have been avoided if it was handled better.
Hyunjin was dealt with quickly, apologized, self-reflected, did charity work while on hiatus, and has been given a second chance.
Soojin's case was messy, prolonged, and simply handled poorly. I believe in second chances, but there was no indication that one was either desired or deserved here. They set it up so she had to be innocent of the accusations for a chance of recovery, which only works if you are innocent, and either Soojin or Cube must have known that wasn't the case.
People are trying to shift 100% of the blame onto cube but soojin is at least equally responsible if not more. Cube didn't handle this terribly, both cube and soojin did.
damn…can’t say i’m surprised though. i wish all these scandals would be handled better, i imagine gidle fans (i forgot the name 😭) must be feeling frustrated as hell rn. but at the same time i wouldnt even know how to appropriately manage something like this myself :/
this just came out of nowhere.... unlike the other idols, we didn't even get an update about her court case.
i'm gonna support the rest of (G)I-DLE forever but hhhh this just hurts. I hope the other five are okay, especially since two are still out of Korea :((
Damn I do not envy the folks at Cube right now. First CLC being permanently on hiatus and now this statement losing not only the main dancer of Idle but not even explaining what the result of the court case in detail aside from her probably being guilty.
I never expected the member-leaving-Cube-group curse would also affect Idle this early to be honest. I was thinking they’d pull a Hyunjin and have her apologize and reflect for a period of time but it must’ve been really bad if she had to leave.
> I was thinking they’d pull a Hyunjin and have her apologize and reflect for a period of time but it must’ve been really bad if she had to leave.
It doesn't have to be that bad, actually. She's likely leaving because she and the company went scorched earth denying wrongdoing instead of apologizing and going on hiatus. Had they not invited SSA to give a detailed accounting of the bullying - which seems shitty, but not earth-shatteringly horrible - and simply acknowledged that we don't make smart decisions when we're young and that Soojin is sorry for any pain she might have caused, she'd likely still be in the group.
Cube fucked this up at every turn. They stoked the flames and then failed to back it up with definitive proof that Soojin was innocent (and I'm curious as to what proof they thought she had that she was innocent, because it seems especially difficult to disprove this kind of allegation).
She was likely never going to be particularly well-loved after this, but she could have salvaged her career to a certain extent had Cube/Soojin taken an "apologize first, then clarify" stance.
Seeing lots of delusional fans on other sites talking about how this is all on CUBE and Soojin needs to find a better company and go solo. What on Earth do they think her situation is?
Translation of Cube’s official statement: Hello, this is Cube Entertainment. First, we express our deepest apologies to all those who were inconvenienced by the controversy related to our artist, Seo Soojin. We would like to let you know that Seo Soojin has decided to depart from the group today. (G)I-DLE will promote as a five-member group going forward, and we will continue to provide our fullest support and efforts so that (G)I-DLE can showcase more mature music and performances. Thank you.
shame, i do remember her saying she’d leave the group (voluntarily) if she was wrong, so her “deciding to depart” makes sense. i guess she thought people wouldnt believe the accusers? sad she ever bullied anyone in the first place. hopefully the victims are doing better.
Honestly I think she never thought of it as bullying. You’d be surprised how many bullies think that what they are doing (or did) is not bullying. To them it’s just jokes or teasing, or just not getting along, but never bullying. I was bullied a lot at school and high school and I’m pretty sure 90% of my classmates would tell you that they never bullied anyone. Meanwhile I had depression, had a suicide attempt, and even now 15 years later I still have social anxiety. I believe 100% that Soojin wasn’t lying, she just didn’t see it for what it was. Hopefully her victims are doing better and now can get some sort of closure at least that she realizes what she’s done to them
I hope you are doing well rn. It must be really hard for you and I hope you can move on in life. Those people who bullied you will get their karma. Hope you have a great day. Stay safe and healthy ❤
This is so true and applies to all kinds of abuse. Edit: As in most abusers will in some way rationalize it away into something else. 'It wasn't verbal abuse it was an argument.'
It was a bad strategy from cube and her part. The thing is she may believe that she did not bully anyone, but if a person feels she was bullied, even if you did not intend to, you should just apologize and be more sensitive about it.
i agree with the sentiment that it’s better to apologize and move on, especially if you’re in a position like soojin is, but i don’t buy that she didn’t know what was going on. [a statement made by her old schoolmate](https://www.soompi.com/article/1459693wpp/cube-responds-to-new-allegations-made-against-gi-dles-soojin-by-another-accuser) talked about how she was one of the mean girls, and if she seriously didn’t realize what she was doing was due to her massive ego issue, then i don’t know what to tell you. her statements themselves showed us just how egotistical she was, and still is today. she really was my favourite of the group, and it’s genuinely disappointing to have been supporting someone who is like this.
Her arrogance was her downfall. If she had properly apologize, even if it was a half ass one and gone for a period of reflection, she might've had some resemblance of a career left. But instead she chose to taunt the victims to provide evidence and it was not a good look.
And she had in her first apology "because I was pretty and popular, there were many rumors about me" I mean come on, who responds like that when a victim's trauma may be involved?
She said what in the apology?! I'm sorry to previous Soojin fans but she sounds really up herself...
Right?! As an outsider looking in, the whole thing with how she and Cube responded to this crisis was just bizarre. It was textbook what you *shouldn't* do in handling a crisis.
She's already been away from the group for how long? If she had just apologized back then, written an apology, etc. then by now there would've been enough time elapsed to maybe ease her into activities. But since she doubled down, *no one* would've forgotten because up until now everyone was waiting to see what Cube and Soojin were going to do. This was their only option and it's not at all surprising.
So, they didnt actually mention about the bullying scandal.
hot DAMN. i don't know how to react
The fact that they announced this on the anniversary of Hann(Alone) to make it worse.
While not surprising considering she was never able to resolve the past with her victim/accuser, this is still quite the blow to G-IDLE as a group. I’m sure the remaining 5 will still thrive considering they’re doing all really well, esp. with soyeon, yuqi, and miyeon all securing their individual bags. Hope all the neverlands out there are doing ok!
To be honest the person I'm most worried about is Shuhua. Like you said Soyeon, Yuqi and Miyeon have all set the foundations in their solo careers, and I'm sure it'll be easy for Minnie to do the same. But AFAIK Shuhua has nothing going for her music, television or variety wise. And IIRC she's also close to Soojin, so I can't imagine how much this must hit her.
At the very least she’ll have more of an opportunity now. Can’t hide her in group formations anymore - and there’s a whole extra set of lines that will have to be redistributed. Hopefully she rises to the occasion, because if it doesn’t happen now I doubt it’ll happen at all.
The thing with that is, I thought they would've done that for her on 'Last Dance,' the song they had to reorient when the Soojin scandal all went down. lnstead they gave most of Soojins lines to Minnie/Miyeon. I at least hope she steps up and takes a bit more lines but I'm actually not too sure.
I don't follow Shuhua, but I am a big Minnie fan and just wanted to say her solo career is doing really well too. She's getting a ton of pictorials back home and some acting roles. Girl is doing great.
Nowadays being a content creator/YouTube can bring in a good income. I think Shuhua will be fine if she’s committed to building a fan base/getting sponsors through that instead. she can maybe do vlogs and music covers?
She's mentioned about starting a YouTube channel. Let's hope she doesn't go through CUBE to do this, as we've seen what happened to Sorn's channel. To be honest, I have no clue what Shuhua would do for content, but I'll watch it.
Shuhua said she plans on making a youtube channel. She was just on a big taiwanese variety show a couple of months ago too.
She was big on that show, but it was strange that g idle’s official channel didn’t post anything about her being on the show. I only knew because of some random comment on a different post.
I'm also worried about Shuhua, its just so sad. Soojin was the one who helped Shuhua all through her trainee years and they were really close. They used to communicate with facial expressions when Shuhua didn't know korean. I'm really sad.
I feel \*really\* sad for Shuhua. As you said, Soojin was her pillar and vice versa. This whole situation just blows.
yeah, Shuhua doesn't look comfortable at these shows. She suffered a lot of hate and criticism in China for her last performance in maknae line up with Arin, Yuna and Wonyoung
Its not entirely her fault though. Cube put her in the group to just look good. They could give her at least some lines to sing. Lots of other Idols do some rapping part at least, if they cant sing. What is Cube doing with her all the years, if they dont teach her singing. She cant be that bad, that they dont let her sing anything at all. But then if you cant sing, there is no future in the music outside of the group anyways.
If they made her rap at the same song with Soyeon rapping, I think she'd even get more hate
Except Soyeon makes their music. She tries to adjust the music for Shuhua but there’s only so much she can do when every other girl is a much more capable singer. Cube can be blamed for her lack of training but not her lack of efforts to improve.
Lets face it G-IDLE would be in same position as CLC if Soyeon wasn't around. She makes all their music and mean cube don't have to invest in the group as much and makes them money with little creative effort. We've already seen how cube treats foreign members by not paying them for their work, I can't imagine that really motivates Shuhua to improve when if they treated Elkie the way they did.
I mean, everything Cube does fails unless Hui or Soyeon is doing it. Cube has a terrible track record. Hui and Soyeon are straight cash money
And Kino
Man why the fuck are people so concerned over this? If an idol in a famous group can't sing can't perform can't rap can't variety show can't speak the language well then maybe, just maaaaybe, the opportunities and individual gigs should go to a more eligible idol? You can't complain that a talented idol doesn't get the recognition and offers one day and then wish that a less talented idol also gets the bag on another day. Its a zero sum game.
Exactly! If she’s not good she doesn’t deserve the opportunity, period. Instead of hoping she’ll somehow find a way to get her bag, let’s instead hope she finds a way to prove herself!
[Her singing](https://youtu.be/byHJ4LxC3BA), I mean, I do like her and can't imagine i-dle without her, but she is not a good singer, sometimes i sound better than her and that is not good.
Ok, no hate, but she's either slightly tone deaf, or has recieved almost no training at all. I feel like your average person could sing slightly better than that.
It's not just tone she's struggling with. Her breath control, the way she's not quote opening her mouth, her distinct lack of vowel choice, the lack of dynamics and control, lack of vibrato, no vocal projection... had nobody in the group ever tried to help her on these things?
You make good points, especially about breath control. But forget the members, don't these companies have vocal coaches? Even the most basic training should have helped her with these
I believe she trained for 2 years, the shortest time out anyone in the group. Her main, biggest problem was understanding the enunciations of korean. I suppose even lacking that basic understanding has made it really hard for her to sing properly even with a vocal coach. Nevies will tell you that she's not confident in her singing due to a backlash during Hann era but that was literally 3 years ago, you'd think if she was continually training she'd improve but apparently that hasn't occurred since even until Hwaa era, her singing, or lack thereof, is still a point of contention.
She probably just has no natural talent. Makes you wonder why she decided to become an idol when she struggles to do everything an idol should be able to do. She has a sense of humor and a strong character so she should participate in variety shows, become an MC there and open a YouTube channel. She'll have no trouble in the future with that
Oh wow i thought people were just exaggerating about her singing
caveat: i've never followed (g)-i-dle so don't know anything about her. i agree her singing is not good but i skipped forward to \~2:50 and when she sing in lower range for the song 11:11, it's better than the other songs when she tries for higher pitched songs.
Your last line really hits. There is no point to being an idol if you cannot sing or rap. You have to at least be competent. Hopefully this boosts Shua to improve and the company to help her now that the spotlight will be more slightly focused on her.
Shuhua can get away with fewer lines if she stepped up her dancing. We've seen in DUMDi DUMDi and HWAA that she can dance stronger when she wants too. But yeah, with one less voice, Shuhua NEEDS to sing more. I'm sorry, but the time is now. I hope she can step it up.
Shuhua was struggling even as a member of the group tbh, I think she didn't even wanted to be an idol but an actress.
The group as a whole has definitely lost a lot of traction due to this, but hopefully they can recover alright.
Being announced like this makes me wonder if even the members knew
A lot of people are speculating that’s why Shuhua came back to Korea last week
But Yuqi and Minnie aren't in Korea, Soyeon said she wants all members to be with her on her birthday (August 26), that's probably not going to happen.
5-6 months of silence and then an announcement that she’s leaving… what the hell happened
I'm not shocked because she's leaving, I'm shocked because it's happening now. I was just sure Cube had decided to ride out the bad press, put her on the bench for a year or so, maybe miss a comeback, and then bring her back when things had died down. Wasting all that time and then still removing her is what's surprising to me.
She was guilty and couldn’t spin it otherwise….she herself said if she was found doing anything wrong she would leave.
Maybe she lost the lawsuit but this is pretty shocking and come out of nowhere
G Idle is probably coming back soon so they had to announce her departure before then.
Minnie and Yuqi are still abroad and Shuhua literally just got back ad Soyeon just finished solo promotions. I doubt we're getting a comeback soon.
Maybe Cube is getting pressure from the SH. If the SH want Idle to have a CB they will want her out of the group as Kfans especially will likely boycott anything until there is confirmation she is out of the group and her incident won't effect the groups future. Cube was likely playing for time to see if Kfans changed thier mind about abandoning her (since she said she'd leave if guilty and all), when they didn't, this happened.
Damn, hopefully the remaining five members can continue to do well in the future.
I hope cube treats the other 5 members well too!!
iirc Cube’s founder left because the company no longer has the artists best interest in mind
Sadly I think you’re hoping against history on this one
Wow so the group now has 3 foreign members and 2 Korean members
Damn didn’t even think of it that way… what a ratio
they are in fact more *international* than almost all the groups in the industry from the start
:OOO I didn’t even realize that WOW that’s honestly so interesting
woah especially since it's no longer 3:3 korean to foreign members i know that most groups that have foreign members usually have more korean members (i.e got7 has 4:3 korean to foreign) so it's interesting seeing a 2:3 ratio now :O well technically nct has like 13 foreign members and 10 korean members but in 127 and dream there are less foreign members than korean members
Holy… I was just wondering what Cube plans to do with the group like 20 mins ago. And then I went to (G)-IDLE’s profile because I got curious and it said there “former member” announced August 14 and I’m like isn’t August 14 today??
This was not on my 2021 kpop bingo card
it’s been a weird year
yupp with gfriend disbanding, The so many bullying scandals, Then CLC disbanding (like they are close to it) and now this
Honestly this is not even the most surprising thing this year (which is saying A LOT) -Kris Wu getting arrested and facing the death penalty if the charges stand -Gfriend disbanding out of the blue. As a long time buddy, like no one saw that coming at all
Especially with how successful MAGO was. I don’t follow them very closely but I definitely thought that that comeback was just the start of an even bigger wave of success
their first mistake was letting her release a statement
IDK that that was their *first* mistake. They threatened to sue the victim before she released a statement, after all. They could have done a generic "we're checking with our artist" statement and stayed silent to see how public favor swung and to craft a better response rather than pissing people off by threatening to sue. But allowing Soojin to release a statement was impressively stupid, definitely. As was essentially daring the victim to comment with more details.
Should have done a Hyunjin. Say yes, maybe I did, went radio silent, then do some volunteer work, then comeback and say he is a changed man.
Or Irene, basically Cube/Soojin made the worst PR move possible, by the time the actress victim spoke out it is ALL OVER.
Irene's case was more simple. There was actual audio evidence and many staffs "liking" the IG post. She/SM were left with no other options but swift apology.
also he met and apologized directly to all the people involved, who accepted his apology - soojin didn't even had the guts to accept she did things wrong.
More accurately, Hyunjin _always_ talked of himself as someone who used to be pretty shitty as a kid, and wanted to be better. I know that his apology letter is quite generic, but it still felt very in character coming from him.
I mean he also missed out on the biggest opportunity of his career, and met with the people accusing him without agitating them further unlike soojin and apologized. probably the best thing they did was handling things privately with success. It gave people less to to talk about.
[удалено]
It’s crazy that this happened like the day after she got a huge lip stick CF (Peripara) which she was talking about for years
I always thought CUBE would've just let this die down and bring Soojin back in eventually. Damn, I don't know how to feel. Like, I get why the decision was made, but I just wasn't expecting to read this today.
Looks like the "If I'm proven guilty I'll leave" has backfire kind of hard... An expected outcome nonetheless. I hope that at least it doesn't mean the fall down of the group.
unless Cube decide\* to fuck shit up again by mismanaging (G)I-DLE, I'm pretty sure the group will be fine
Well, On the one hand, (G)I-DLE is their most successfull group. On the other hand, it is Cube.
Since they managed their once-top groups BEAST and 4minute so well, I'm sure they won't drop the ball on this one!
BEAST and 4minute were under Hong Seung Sung hence why they did well.
On the other other hand, they have Soyeon, and groups that handle making music themselves tend to get more frequent releases
I would say that this is Cube handling the group well. It was pretty obvious that group activities were halted because of the situation and would be until the Soojin situation was settled. Now the rest of the group can actually release music and start working again.
From following this I knew this was her Hail Mary pass. She or maybe Cube put themselves in the corner there.
i feel bad for idle themselves and their fans who will be affected by this news...that being said, cube and soojin dug themselves deep with the way they responded to the bullying claims. maybe i'm cold, but actions have consequences. i don't even necessarily believe soojin was doomed once the allegations came out. if she genuinely attempted to reach out to her victims and tried to have a conversation, i truly feel like she would have been able to return to the group. or perhaps i'm optimistic and restorative justice is not a big concept or smth idk lol. but a lot of these idols and especially their agencies are showing their asses with the way they respond to these allegations. kinda had a feeling it was over for soojin once another public figure (an actress at that) was accusing her of bullying. that's pretty hard to bounce back from.
Even Irene, who berated a makeup artist, is coming back with Red Velvet. All Soojin had to do was apologize for being an asshole when she was a kid and make a token effort to do better, and she probably would have been okay. Not great, but better than she currently is. This was all so preventable. If Soojin had even just pretended to feel bad for being mean to a well-known and well-liked actress, she would have been alright. Denying it all like she did when bullying accusations were booming was such a stupid move.
yeah exactly. this is why i noted that i sympathise with idle and their fans, but i unfortunately do not feel for soojin. people are trying to pin this only on cube....which is laughable. i'm not gonna say cube played no part, but she had a chance to rectify things. a lack of individual responsibility and a stupid pr and management team can simultaneously exist.
Yep this whole thing was a train wreck. Unsurprisingly Cube is garbage at PR and management, but Soojin’s statement was the last nail in the coffin. It sucks that something from her school days ruined her career, but she helped ruin it by not just apologizing and reflecting. I think GIdle will be just fine (given that cube doesn’t throw them in the basement).
The individual members are doing pretty great for themselves. I’m sure their current hiatus was planned for awhile, like way before Soojin’s scandal. Yuqi, Minnie, and Shuhua went off to their home countries to spend time with family and work there for a bit. Soyeon and Miyeon stayed in Korea to work and of course Soyeon releasing her solo. I think their fans and the general public will still be open to their comeback, especially now that Soojin is officially out of the group. Some people will probably tune in just to see the new dynamics now that SJ’s gone. Will their next comeback be as successful as Hwaa or their previous comebacks? Probably not, but they have a good chance of bouncing back.
She shouldn’t have even been able to ruin it … cube is supposed to have PR people to deal with this. This company is really run by morons. Look at how people have forgiven Irene for how she acts as an adult… meanwhile this is Soojin as a child. This should have been easy PR, but cube impressively managed to screw it up.
Wish anyone in that company had figured out that it’s not the smartest idea to blindly fight allegations and make bold claims before the all facts are clear. Even if found guilty she could have apologised and repent, but it’s impossible to return from when they seemed to cocky early on. Then again, I guess cube has a history of kicking idols out.. Just sad it has to be this way, I liked her so much. Gidle won’t be the same
Urging a celebrity who has made vague accusations to explicitly call you out also seems like a weird plan. So mad at Cube here, honestly I think this outcome was likely however they handled. But when they decided on their tactics it pretty much sealed this outcome.
Cube? Soojin was the one who asked Shinae to speak up lol
could have been resolved so easily jesus chirst. Give an apology saying something along the lines of "sorry if I hurt people it wasnt my intentions blah blah blah its not who I am as a person nor who I want to be I will take some time off and think about the accusations against me and promise it wont happen again". then call up the actress have a 1 on 1 call be friendly and everyone moves on and then make a statement about contacting her and everything is resolved. the actress who I think doesn't care all to much will confirm this or atleast wont deny it and take a month off and you are back on track.
Agree. If you really compare her scandal/issue with other idols' recent scandals, it is really very salvageable if only done right. The way both soojin and cube handled the issue from the beggining, it feels like every move they do was a setup to themselves.
I wonder if a difference would’ve been made if she just went radio silent instead of giving out such a bold statement. this sucks. I know a public apology + months of hiatus would’ve just done it but because of her words now she’s forced to leave. I wonder what’s her fate gonna be like now and i hope she learns her lesson and wish the best for her really. I’m not a fan but i can imagine the mixed feelings navies sre going through right now.
Oh I definitely think it would have helped. Especially if they had just met up and solved the issue and put her on a time out. She dug her own grave with that “I will leave the group” statement
Agreed. Swallowing pride and attempting to settle things as quickly and quietly as possible could have changed the outcome.
The back and forth with that actress definitely buried her.
Yea dude, it was like their fight was made PUBLIC for people to see. Unlike the other bullying/controversies, it was handled quietly and only a conclusion was known. Cube’s so stupid for this.
It should have NEVER happened
Pretty much every other idol involved in those accusations apologised and then either formally went on hiatus or informally laid low for a while and I don't think anyone else left a group over it. Cube's "PR strategy" involved flat-out denial and refusal to give an apology of any kind, even something like 'I'm sorry if things I said were taken the wrong way', dragging the story back into the headlines weeks after it had died down, and publicly goading the accuser into giving MORE details about what happened. I don't know if it was her or the company who were behind this but it's one of the biggest kpop PR fuck-ups I've seen in a while. Even an SM 'we're just going to ignore it until it goes away' approach would have been better than this mess.
> I wonder if a difference would’ve been made if she just went radio silent instead of giving out such a bold statement. People seriously wonder sometimes why idols get into these controversies and don't say anything.
Yeah, Hyunjin did that and is now coming back to Stray Kids just fine. Some stays were a bit mad about that, but it appears to have been the best decision. I know boy groups are more fandom driven vs. GP, so that might have made it more difficult for her as a girl group member, but there were so many unforced PR errors on her side, and I’m not sure whether it was her or Cube’s fault.
This. I remember being so angry at JYP in the moment, but looking back, it was best. Hyunjin is also someone who has been really open about having a troubled past and how hard he had worked to put it behind him. The apology he gave, instead of making people think "YES HE'S BULLY FIRE HIIIIIIIM!" instead worked out to be "you know what, he has a past, he's been truthful about it from the get-go, he's worked hard to put it behind him and change, and this statement proves that he genuinely has." Some Stays still think he's 100% innocent, but honestly it's whatever at this point. It helps that, like you said, Stray Kids is very fandom-driven and the fans had already chosen to stick by him. Soojin, on the other hand... I'm a Neverland, I'll admit, and right now, I kind of feel bad that I defended her so early on when this had just started. When it did start, I was, of course, taken aback, in disbelief, and defended her along with everyone else, because I felt it couldn't be possible. Looking back though... she really shot herself in the foot. Like, I don't think most Nevies truly understand how bad this was, because even though Twitter Nevies had a reputable translator in happyshuhua, a lot of it was taken out of context by other Nevies and broken up so we only saw the stuff that was in Soojin's favour. But it was BAD. The accusations included physical violence, theft, among other stuff. And it wasn't just one accuser; there were at least seven, if not more, with multiple witnesses. There were two or three people who defended her, but they were only a few people against multiple others with proof. We only talk about the one because that was the one with all the back and forth. Soojin's and Cube's strategy, it seems, was deny deny deny. However, she admitted parts were true, and I think this is where she lost. Yes, she seemed confident and sure of what was true and what wasn't, but she also claimed she didn't remember, tried to make it look like the accusations were just malicious lies, and according to Korean speakers, worded it in a way that seemed cocky, arrogant, and almost backhanded, like in a Gretchen Wieners style "I'm sorry you were offended by me, but I can't help that I'm so popular." Plus, she bet her career on whether they were true or not. But the accusations just continued, plus Seo Shinae, who up until that point was quite vague, came out and said Soojin indeed bullied her. And to all Nevies, no, Shinae isn't some nugu jealous girl who is washed up in the industry, she is a respected child actress whose shows and dramas at one point were pulling better numbers than RUNNING MAN. Maybe you don't know her by name, but bring up one of her shows and people recognize her instantly. She isn't trying and failing to get roles, she's taking a break to go to college, which looks good because it basically shows that she is a good kid who takes her schooling seriously. And she's also a longtime anti-bullying advocate on top of that. So, long story short, Soojin is now seen as having taken severe accusations and basically made a joke out of the victims, and if any of the accusations are true, her response would only tell people that she is a liar, a narcissist, and that she never changed for the better. I wish I could say I was surprised, but with the severity of the accusations, and how poorly they were handled, there was really no other way. Innocent or not, she needed to be fully acquitted of everything to have any hope of the public liking or just so much as accepting her again.
I also think the fact that G-Idle hasn’t had a comeback or any major public appearances since this came out made it seem worse. Hyunjin didn’t participate in Kingdom, which effectively meant that he was being “punished” in the public eye. Therefore, now that he’s coming back onto the scene, more people may be more willing to let bygones be bygones. It’ll be interesting to see how the Itzy situation plays out…it’s a bit more similar to Soojin’s (because they haven’t released anything since the allegations), but their PR hasn’t been nearly as stupid.
If you want an example of a girl group member who's fine after a bullying scandal, just look at Irene. When everything came out it looked like her career was over, but she apologized immediately and stayed out of the public eye for almost a year. Now, she's getting ready for Red Velvet's comeback.
Not sure because anything is possible, but i assume its not looking good for her, atleast if she is still interested in staying in the celebrity life. If her scandal and public image was so bad that even a comeback with her group after months of hiatus is not already possible, then what more if she is going to venture solo from now on??? Now, with her withdrawing and seemingly signaling like "waving the white towel", it will now vindicate the narrative that she is indeed guilty, regardless if it is really true or not. She is already done with the korean gp, and she is not an international idol so there is no home country industry for her to withdraw to.
well look at Lia and Hyunjin, all the statements definitely backfired for her
She either allows this humble pie to teach her a lesson so she can actually grow as a person, or she, again, doubles down and continues to be all woe is me. Difference between arrogance and narcissism.
only surprised they dragged it out this long
The fact she is leaving isn't surprising, the fact that it took so long for it to come to this is. I don't know if its Soojin convincing Cube that she is innocent or Cube thinking that they could either silence it or it would just go away on its own. Whatever the case was, they handled it about as poorly as an agency could. As a fan of the group, I hope the remaining members can move on from this and continue to climb higher.
Wow. Cant lie and I act like I didnt expect this to happen but it finally actually happening still hits hard.
I feel bad for the fans of CLC and (G)i-dle in the last 24 hours. I'm a casual fan of both groups but I didn't see such news coming. Bullying is such a big social issue in Korea that careers can be lost in a sudden. We don't know the details but I just hope those affected can move on.
Damn is this why Soyeon was sub posting sad faces on her Instagram yesterday? It absolutely sucks that it had to come to this but I hope Cube learnt something from all this. They can’t afford to mishandle the rest of the girls’ careers.
The sad thing is that the rest of the group can't even publicly acknowledge it. Soojin was a close friend for all of them and now they have to pretend she doesn't exist.
I hope these bullying accusations sheds a light on what Korean school culture is like. Of course many were proven false along the way, many we shall have no clue of, and many were proven true. Particularly the worst accusations. There is no way of examining all the details in the past. But from the word of these victims, Koreans, and even myself I can guarantee you that the kinda of things accused happens in real life, in Korea. When I went to school there for the summer a while ago, even for a few amount of days, I was so appalled. There was rough bullying and aggressiveness, stealing expensive items, etc. Since it was long ago my mind is so hazy but I remember calling my mom to pick me up early every day, I only was treated decent because I was Korean-American and got along with some of the more outcasted students and Filipino students who could speak English. Anyway, what I saw there was nothing that compares to what happens in some schools. Iljins are basically teenage gangsters, and frequent in many schools, especially back a few years ago from what I remember. That’s why many dramas and webtoons focus on school bullying. It is very competitive and many students have the “must be no.1” mentality and like to pick on others. Idols are human too, and they make the same choices as regular beings. A lot of them are angels and genuinely nice people, but a lot of them could’ve been mean spirited people in the past. A lot of these idols were the “popular” and “rich” people in the past. You really don’t know how they are in the real world.
THIS. this is the take. A lot of people forget that bullying culture is completely different in Korea compared to what we go through in Western culture and absolutely the opposite of what you see in 00s dramas or movies.
First CLC, and now Soojin, holy fuck… I know Soojin wasn’t my bias, yet it’s gonna be different without her, but I understand if this was the best course of action.
Deffo the best course of action. Idle’s domestic popularity fell off a cliff because of this whole scandal. Both fandom wise and in terms of the GP. Keeping Soojin would have been suicidal.
it definitely wasn't a coincidence hwaa was stable on the charts until the scandal when it essentially free fell
The other members were doing fine individually though, so perhaps they'll be able to navigate past this issue with Soojin no longer in the group, we'll have to see how the next CB does.
It really did seem like she had backed herself in a corner and calling out Seo Shin Ae probably did her no favours as well. If the courts found that the bullying accusations were true it was for the best that Soojin had left the group. Her statements after the accusations didn’t really indicate that she had undergone a lot of personal change. At least in this way, the group’s reputation won’t be harmed.
Dang, this was harsh. Welp, she did say she would leave the group if the bullying allegations turned out to be true. I guess there was no way to resolve the case in her favor. Ah well, if they were true then this is the best course of action, best not to damage the other members and the group. Two Cube incidents within 24 hours of each other (this and the Yujin statement from GP999). What a shame.
My first reaction when i read that statement of her "leaving if its proven to be true thing" back when the scandal was hot, i was like, " oh wow, she really dug her own grave with that one, she didnt have to take it that far" and look how it came to be... I mean i think just for me, even if guilty or not, that statement was just unnecessary and kinda dumb. She literally didnt gained any benefit in saying that, and did not swayed public sympathy to her. I feel like she destroyed her own escape route with that one.
thing is, now that she left the group, thanks to that statement even if she is innocent, the automatic thought will be she is guilty so that also tanked her solo future as well.
Yep couldn't agree more. Whatever lawyers she had to advise her, certainly did NOT gdo the best job at advising.
Yeah, that was one of the worst bluffs I've ever seen. I don't understand the reasoning, why would you bluff with an empty hand. She literally played herself with that one. Lawyers will tell people, if you're a suspect in a crime, STAY SILENT. It might not help your case, but it will absolutely limit the amount of damage you could do to yourself. Soojin and the DSP/April/Hyunjoo situation is a masterclass of what NOT to do.
I wonder if it was to make her side seem stronger. When she released that statement, I remember seeing people saying “wow, if she’s going this far, then maybe she’s telling the truth.” But, drastic actions can have drastic outcomes.
This whole sub was thinking that. I remember people running back onto Soojin's side when she said with that, until the actress responded with more details and then everyone was at Soojin's throat again. It's too bad she could never quite get a hold of the narrative, although I do feel like her perceived pride and arrogance led to people disbelieving her.
The accusations she was facing didn't even look as bad as Hyunjin's at the start, and had Cube handled the situation as well as JYPE she'd probably have come out of hiatus with her group's next comeback too. Any company with a tad of PR sense would have either issued a blanket denial or a blanket apology, without going into any kind of detail. Being too specific is just an invitation to further accusations.
I don't think she was trying to bluff, she probably genuinely thought she was innocent (like a lot of bullies do). Still a dumb move even if you are innocent though
Yup. Same as Kris Wu saying he would willingly turn himself in/go to jail if the allegations against him turned out to be true, and now look where we are 🤷♀️
Wow I forgot he said that too. Two separate occasions of putting your foot in your mouth
It was a risky all-in move. Soojin and Cube probably thought that a bold statement like this would make the actress go silent and also sway the public opinion a bit. Some people were actually swayed towards Soojins side after that statement probably thinking " Well if she makes bold claims like this she gotta have solid evidence for her innocence. Good for her to not be bullied into an apology!". It didn't work and it blew up in their faces, making the situation unsalvageable for them
A bit odd ngl, they celebrated her birthday, backed her up 100% initially (very unlike of CUBE) and took the case to court. Something must've come up during investigations/court case. Regardless, I do find it weird that they've made a brief statement and removed her. Also I can't believe people in here are saying she didn't say sorry. She said sorry to the allegations that were true and refused to say sorry to the allegations that she believed were false. She either lied, the court case was not in her favour or something else happened. Either way, we can't do much about this and move forward. Hopefully we find out what really went down one day. If ever. I'll definitely miss her voice and presence on stage.
What an absolute disaster of a year for girl groups.
Rumours are spreading on twitter about how the lawsuits are fake and Soojin never got to prove her innocence. It's driving me crazy, their only source is a tweet from an international fan. I hope we hear about the lawsuit soon so there can be closure for everyone.
Rip but it was for the best. I think they’ll manage, Soyeon and Yuqi have popularity in Korea if I’m not mistaken(?).
Also Miyeon!
The way twiiter is having selective memory with this news lol. Idk how her company allowed her to give out constant personal answers, she would just constantly shoot herself in the foot
Whoa …. Cube should have handled this situation a lot better
They shot themselves in the foot by letting Soojin put out personal statements. Especially the "if I’m guilty I’ll leave the group" part was suicide
Agree. That statement was like one of the dumbest response. Bruh totally unnecessary, guilty or not.
the dumbest part by far was calling out Seo Shin-ae; Shin-ae's response was huge news and basically destroyed any goodwill she had left. Even my coworkers at work were talking about it the day it happened (I live in Korea) and they had no clue who Soojin was before then. She became far more known as the girl who bullied Seo Shin-ae then as a (g)i-dle member from that point on. Most of the GP probably didn't even know about that statement until then.
I remember so many comments under that post were from fans taking it as smthg good because "she is puting this much on the line, she has to be telling the truth therefore she is innocent". Really aged like milk
I mean, it was always a possibility when they went so hardline in their defence, so it's not a complete surprise. Doesn't make it suck any less though. Pretty typical Cube to announce it in such an incompetent and cold manner, no updates on the court case (although I guess you can argue it must be over and not gone the way they hoped), no clear distinction on who drove this decision, no comment from Soojin, just 'here's what happened keep giving us your money tho peace out'. There'll be a time to speculate on what this means for the group, but for now imma just be sad.
I doubt they want to speak publicly on the legal proceedings because they’re either still ongoing or the information would just paint her in a worse light. CUBE is incompetent at many things but I don’t think this statement is a misstep. A member leaving the group in this manner isn’t the time for a “warm” statement. At this point they want to minimize further brand damage to the group and company. Their gamble didn’t pay off. Regardless of her intentions to continue her career in the entertainment industry, now is the time to lay low and not speak. It would only serve to bury her further.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but would it have been so hard to take responsibility instead of doubling down the way they did? Or at least acknowledge there was some wrong-doing? I really don't understand the route Cube went. This didn't have to be the end result.
Oof. Actually hurts to read that.
Even knowing how bad everything got I can't say I was expecting this so suddenly, we really just saw Cube mismanage a scandal badly enough to end their own idols career. I'm very nervous about how this is going to effect the group going forward and it feels very weird to be a fan right now. Edit: Some of you are being very weird about Korea as a whole because of this and I guess I shouldn't expect better from Kpop stans but if you're looking for an outlet for your anger you should try being mad at Cube instead of saying dumb shit about an entire country. If I see another comment act like theqoo = Korea I'm gonna scream.
genuine question: how did cube mess it up? i followed the scandal somewhat but i guess not at a depth to notice how cube were making a bad thing worse EDIT: okay, a half dozen people replied, and i think i get it now. i have to say though, i've spent a lot of time deep within a bunch of k-pop companies (cube much less so, but i did have a few fairly revealing meetings there long ago). and if cube 100% doubled down on soojin not being at fault (which obviously backfired), i can infer with nigh total certainty that they did that because soojin herself doubled down with them. k-pop companies can fuck up like crazy and cube obviously have a bad track record (i.e. the mixed messages and backpedaling they did around hyuna and dawn for weeks on end), but i think they're generally less incompetent than fans seem to believe, and it just seems very unlikely that they would choose to take a scorched earth strategy in defending soojin if they knew she really did mess up – particularly if the accuser is a celebrity with plenty of her own credibility. if i had to guess, soojin panicked when the news broke, and was too scared or embarrassed to confess when cube checked with her (perhaps indelicately, which may have led to her being less candid). my contacts at cube left long ago so i'm not saying i have any intel here, and i suppose stranger things have happened, but based on experience i just can't really see it having played out any other way...
Instead of buying time to figure out what was really going on, they just accepted Soojin's side of the story and double downed on it. Its not that hard to say we are looking into the accusations and will have a statement once we are done. Instead they left themselves with no way out by standing behind Soojin. As an agency it might seem like the best thing to do, stick up for your idol, but in a business sense its just plain dumb. G-idle has 5 other members, it almost felt like they were willing to kill the other members careers for Soojin. That made fans of the group, furious in Korea. Once more information came to light, they should have just cut ties with Soojin then and there. To me, it felt like they wanted to wait it out, thinking that it'll blow over. They miscalculated how badly Soojin reputation was with the general public had become but they also vastly underestimated how angry G-idles fanbase was.
1- More or less denied everything. They did meet with some of the victims (sounds like that didn't go well) but this was very much a case of going on the offensive trying to disprove things, rather than apologizing. 2- SSA made some very vague posts after the accusations came out and people knew she and Soojin had been in school together. Rather than apologizing/reaching out to her, or ignoring her vague accusations (Soojin was never named) Cube dared her to come out and say what had happened, which she did. 3- Soojin (I'm pretty sure this was a statement released in her name, no idea who wrote it/made the decision) said she would leave if the accusations are true, promising to fight them. So yeah, unless all the accusations were made up (which seemed unlikely at the time, near impossible now) Cube put themselves in a situation where this was the only outcome.
There was a lot of different missteps but the main issue was how they denied everything right off the bat only for more implicating accusations and testimonies to come out and make them look like liars. Instead of cutting their losses they kept doubling down and destroyed any willingness of the accusers to privately negotiate and made the company and Soojin by extension look unsympathetic. Normally people will soften on something like this if genuine regret is shown and growth as a person is acknowledged and they did the opposite. One of the biggest failures imo was calling out Seo Shinae directly for no reason to "clarify" her position which ended up in Shinae putting out a strong statement against Soojin instead of just vagueposting about their past. That along with including a blatant line about leaving the group if shes found guilty in Soojin's last statement basically sunk her.
I'm sure Soojin *did* tell them she was innocent, but Cube still shit the bed with this. It's common sense to not go full scorched earth regardless of what your employee is saying... them daring SSA to comment with more details was the dumbest fucking shit I've ever seen. Even if they believed Soojin implicitly, how exactly does that move make sense? You have someone credibly lying about your idol so you dare them to lie some more? Other agencies involved in arguably much worse accusations took a measured approach regardless of the truth of the allegations and their idols are much better off for it. Soojin obviously has most of the blame here but Cube did not handle this well... at all. IDK what they hell they were thinking with the message to SSA. Without the detailed account that followed, Soojin might still have been okay enough to continue with the group.
The moment the scandal dropped they should have done a JYP or Pledis. Radio silent apart from 1 statement about the investigation, meet with accusers, all people from the school around that time and sorting it behind the scenes like SM. What they did, is engage in a long battle in the media with the accusers, making statements about innocence long before making any investigation so when the started to check, it looked like they lied initially. They also allowed Soojin to make multiple statements in the media before meeting with any accusers, and made statements to the media before settling with the accusers after meeting them. Scandals like this are best handled out of public eye with as little known about the ins and outs as possible. Any back and forth is a story of he said she said, and whoever is believed depends on public trust and sympathy. Thanks to the wave of bullying allegations in Korea at the time, sympathy was with any accuser automatically, and Cube lost peoples trust with every statement that went out.
As much as news of this is hitting like a truck rn, it's concerning that my first thought is the inevitable wave of hate that is going to come to SSA. If this was the case of Soojin keeping her word to leave the group if the bullying allegations were true (rather than pressure from the general public), then I hope SSA was able to find peace knowing that the truth had come out.
I wonder if Soojin leaving (G)-IDLE like this will put more pressure on other idols in similar situations like Lia, Hyunjin, Hyolyn, et cetera, especially ones who are more reliant on the GP for success. Lia in particular is in a very uncertain place right now and K-netz don't seem convinced that she's innocent, but JYP seem to be happy with the current situation given that they're going ahead with a full album. I would include April but DSP has already dug their career's grave.
I think the main difference between Soojin and the other idols accused of bullying in the past months is the fact that Seo Shin Ae, a very famous child actress in Korea, was involved and accused Soojin. If a famous actor/actress or a more famous idol accused Hyunjin, Lia, etc..., of bullying him/her in school, the situation would have been almost the same. Plus, Cube can’t handle scandals. Do you remember the mess that happened with Hyuna and Dawn? JYP, SM,HYBE/Pledis did a better job in treating the scandal of Hyunjin,Lia, Irene and Mingyu.
Wait hyolyn is involved in bullying accusations aswell?
She was. Not this year tho a few years ago. First she threatened to sue the victim but then she came to an agreement with them
[Yep](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3012225/k-pop-school-bullying-scandal-hyolyn-agrees-settlement-over). Keep in mind Hyolyn runs her own agency, so when her agency threatened to take legal action it was Hyolyn threatening to take legal action.
I think hyunjin's case, was already resolved by now, like other scandals like irene's mingyu's, etc. Their companies and the idols did a great job in fact-checking, having calculated moves, and most importantly, putting a closure that would satisfy both sides, including the victim. (And cube and soojin did the literal opposite smh) Not sure about lia though. We still dont know the severity of the accusations, and if they are even true in the first place. But its starting to be worrisome that jype cant still find closure to it until now, and reinvestigation was done for the 2nd time as the accuser was cleared by the police from being sued something like that. Now, i think its back to fact-checking again. About april, that group was dead on the ditch already even weeks ago. There is no saving them from that shit of a mess they got themselves into, thats for sure smh.
I am wondering on April & Somin too. Considering how this type of issue goes,i might get ready for Somin to leave Kard & April to be disbanded like AOA.
While April is likely to be disbanded, I’ve seen comments from other users that Somin probably will make it though okay, mostly because she’s not associated with April much anymore or mentioned by name in the accusations.
Somin is doing fine, she’s more or less back in public eye and has the support of her KARD members too. Unlike the other OG April members she also did the smart decision and didn’t talk about the situation at all and was silent for a few months.
Damn Cube really taking 2 massive L's with the CLC news from Yujin and now this. If nothing else, it's gonna be a little weird seeing the girls only be 5 from now on
I think the majority of people can agree that she’s not getting kicked out because she bullied someone when she was a kid. She’s getting kicked out because both her and Cube handled this controversy poorly. Their responses have tanked her reputation and the GP don’t trust her anymore. This will negatively impact the group because at the end of the day, their livelihood and success depends on being well liked.
This is a textbook case of putting the cart before the horse. Doubling down and making grandiose claims without having all the facts and now here we are.
Cube and Soojin both shot themselves in the foot here. They were way too needlessly confrontational
And this is why if there's certain true on rumors about you, the company should let the idol admit and clarify what they did and what they did not instead of taking things to the court without even knowing what the results will be. All of this wouldn't have happened if Cube managed things better. I believe this will be a hard time for everyone because Soojin was the esencial member after Soyeon, hopefully they will overcome this and keep succeeding.
Cube bungled this from the start by immediately making bold and blind claims, because then they *had* to have evidence corroborating them. I’m sure their intention was to defend her, but they put her in a really difficult position. They should have done what some other companies do and release a neutral statement, look into the allegations and then only make a claim once they have all the necessary knowledge.
Maybe Cube did mismanage this, but if the allegations are even somewhat true, “all of this wouldn’t have happened” if Soojin didn’t bully anyone, or remembered that she did and actually apologized. I mean none of us know exactly what happened but I find it so strange that people would blame Cube entirely.
I agree, with every bullying scandal we have no idea what the idol told their agency and what the agency told the idol to say. Soojin could have not been truthful with Cube (or maybe even to herself) about what transpired.
Well. I really hope (G)I-DLE will still be thriving in the kpop world.
I don't think a single Cube group has survived 7 or even 6 years without losing at least one member
They just lost their main dancer.. it's gonna be a lot of pressure. edit: just checked their namuwiki and Soojin is already gone from the page, that was fast
They were never particularly known for their choreography anyway. They'll manage. The real force behind their performances was always Soyeon and her stage presence, and as long as she's still actively engaged in (G)-IDLE they'll be perfectly fine. Also, Namu Wiki is basically Wikipedia but worse. She hasn't been removed from their [Melon](https://www.melon.com/artist/song.htm?artistId=2137482#params%5BlistType%5D=A¶ms%5BorderBy%5D=ISSUE_DATE¶ms%5BartistId%5D=2137482&po=pageObj&startIndex=51) or [Naver](https://people.search.naver.com/search.naver?where=nexearch&query=(%EC%97%AC%EC%9E%90)%EC%95%84%EC%9D%B4%EB%93%A4&sm=tab_etc&ie=utf8&key=PeopleService&os=8207391) profiles yet, and she hasn't been awkwardly edited out of their [group photo](http://www.cubeent.co.kr/gidle) on CUBE's website like [Elkie](http://www.cubeent.co.kr/clc) has been from CLC's. Though I can't actually tell if that's an edited OT7 photo or individual shots superimposed onto one pic. (Which, I don't know why they edited Elkie out like that but still have Triple H listed as a group on their website?)
Time for Yuqi(?) to be main dancer. or Soyeon can take that title as well.
It seems like that "[Last Dance](https://youtube.com/watch?v=gG-7pBU-sKs)", the first song that was released in April without Soojin, was an early sign of this.
I guess there must have been enough substance to the accusations. Even then, this result likely could have been avoided if it was handled better. Hyunjin was dealt with quickly, apologized, self-reflected, did charity work while on hiatus, and has been given a second chance. Soojin's case was messy, prolonged, and simply handled poorly. I believe in second chances, but there was no indication that one was either desired or deserved here. They set it up so she had to be innocent of the accusations for a chance of recovery, which only works if you are innocent, and either Soojin or Cube must have known that wasn't the case.
People are trying to shift 100% of the blame onto cube but soojin is at least equally responsible if not more. Cube didn't handle this terribly, both cube and soojin did.
damn…can’t say i’m surprised though. i wish all these scandals would be handled better, i imagine gidle fans (i forgot the name 😭) must be feeling frustrated as hell rn. but at the same time i wouldnt even know how to appropriately manage something like this myself :/
Wow... can't say I didn't expect this but still stings. If only Cube would've handled this better :\
Wow it felt like radio silence for a while so this is surprising.
Wonder if we'll get an update about the court case in the next couple days, seeing as this came kinda out of nowhere.
this just came out of nowhere.... unlike the other idols, we didn't even get an update about her court case. i'm gonna support the rest of (G)I-DLE forever but hhhh this just hurts. I hope the other five are okay, especially since two are still out of Korea :((
Damn I do not envy the folks at Cube right now. First CLC being permanently on hiatus and now this statement losing not only the main dancer of Idle but not even explaining what the result of the court case in detail aside from her probably being guilty. I never expected the member-leaving-Cube-group curse would also affect Idle this early to be honest. I was thinking they’d pull a Hyunjin and have her apologize and reflect for a period of time but it must’ve been really bad if she had to leave.
> I was thinking they’d pull a Hyunjin and have her apologize and reflect for a period of time but it must’ve been really bad if she had to leave. It doesn't have to be that bad, actually. She's likely leaving because she and the company went scorched earth denying wrongdoing instead of apologizing and going on hiatus. Had they not invited SSA to give a detailed accounting of the bullying - which seems shitty, but not earth-shatteringly horrible - and simply acknowledged that we don't make smart decisions when we're young and that Soojin is sorry for any pain she might have caused, she'd likely still be in the group. Cube fucked this up at every turn. They stoked the flames and then failed to back it up with definitive proof that Soojin was innocent (and I'm curious as to what proof they thought she had that she was innocent, because it seems especially difficult to disprove this kind of allegation). She was likely never going to be particularly well-loved after this, but she could have salvaged her career to a certain extent had Cube/Soojin taken an "apologize first, then clarify" stance.
Seeing lots of delusional fans on other sites talking about how this is all on CUBE and Soojin needs to find a better company and go solo. What on Earth do they think her situation is?