On Wednesday, Mar. 3, DSP Media announced that they would be pursuing legal action against former APRIL member Hyunjoo and her family members after her younger brother accused APRIL of bullying Hyunjoo out of the group.
DSP Media Announces Legal Action against Former APRIL Member Hyunjoo
On Mar. 3, DSP Media released a statement claiming that Lee Hyunjoo's story is one-sided and does not represent the whole story. They revealed that the family had demanded a statement from the company.
While DSP Media had initially wanted to continue with discussions quietly, Hyunjoo's younger brother made a post to an online community forum detailing the bullying Hyunjoo experienced in the group. Because of this, they will be taking legal action against Hyunjoo.
Their statement reads:
"Hello, this is DSP Media.
We are sharing our official stance on the controversy related to Lee Hyunjoo.
Following the accusations made by Lee Hyunjoo's family and the user claiming to be classmates with her during their school days, we met up with Hyunjoo and her mother twice in the hopes that we could fulfill our duty to our artist.
Lee Hyunjoo insisted that she was the victim and told us a very one-sided version of the truth and demanded that we release a different statement on our stance. We wanted to continue with our discussions, but the person who claims to Hyunjoo's younger brother released a post on Mar. 3, and we were unable to continue with discussions anymore.
We tried to do our best to brother both of our artists, APRIL and Hyunjoo. However, following this, we will be taking strong legal action against not just Hyunjoo but the people who also claim to be her relatives and friends on these anonymous online community forums.
Once again, we would like to apologize to all of the fans who have shown support and love to our DSP Media artists. We will make sure to conclude the situation so that you are not embarrassed by the time that you have spent with APRIL.
Thank you."
The Allegations Against APRIL + Did They Bully Hyunjoo out of the Group?
Previously, a user claiming to be Hyunjoo's younger brother made a post to an online community form stating that his sister was forced to leave APRIL due to the bullying she received from the members. He said the bullying got so intense that Hyunjoo had attempted to take her own life. He claims that Hyunjoo had never received an apology from the APRIL members, and the company did not do anything to support Hyunjoo.
DSP Media firmly denied these claims, stating that Hyunjoo had originally signed on as an acting trainee and was asked to join APRIL later on. They claimed that Hyunjoo left to focus on her acting career and that APRIL never bullied her.
However, her brother released a follow-up post, stating that Hyunjoo was never an acting trainee and that APRIL had always bullied her, and that she was initially hesitant to join the group but was convinced by the company.
He revealed that the bullying was so bad that Hyunjoo suddenly started experiencing breathing difficulties and fainting spells. However, the company nor APRIL brought Hyunjoo to the hospital. They also prohibited her from taking her medication properly, as it would make her drowsy and get in the way of APRIL's activities. He also shared a hospital statement photo, proving that Hyunjoo had been admitted to the hospital during the time she was bullied.
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Written by Alexa Lewis
