[TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide]
According to various accounts, former T-ARA Areum allegedly faked the news of her attempting to make an extreme choice. On top of that, she's also facing issues over extorting money from her fans.
On April 11, YouTuber Lee Jinho, a notorious entertainment insider, uploaded a new video accusing Areum of threatening fans for money, as well as raising doubts about her initial attempt to commit suicide.
As a result, the idol-actress addressed this in a now-deleted Instagram Story.
Areum Faked Her Suicide Attempt News? Witness Reveals Anecdote at Hospital With Idol
In the video, Lee Jinho raised two suspicions against Areum, including the reliability of the news that she tried to take her own life.
At the time, her boyfriend revealed that his then-pregnant girlfriend was in a coma and took a picture of her unconscious. At the time, positive messages from worried fans poured out and wished for her fast recovery.
However, Lee Jinho revealed that an informant sharing the same room with Areum shared that she was physically fine and they didn't even see that she was brought in for surgery.
ALSO READ : Areum Reveals She's Pregnant + 2 Kids Taken Away from Her After Attempting to Take Own Life
To refute this, the idol released her hospital medical report and it was shown that Areum paid a total of 183,900 KRW (134.30 USD).
Unfortunately, this raised more suspicions as insurance wouldn't be applied if the reason for hospitalization was an extreme choice so the payment should be higher than this.
Areum Accused of Extorting Money from Fans
Aside from this claim, Areum is also facing the allegation that she and her boyfriend are extorting money from fans by using her kids and former group as leverage.
Numerous victims surfaced and explained that Areum borrowed money from them by using their sympathy for their children who were taken away from her.
According to the YouTuber, there are over 10 victims and the estimated damage is 43.95 million KRW (32.08k USD) but only 2M KRW ($1.5k) has been repaid.
Areum Refutes Accusations in Now-Deleted Story
After deactivating her account on March 31, Areum returned to Instagram on April 11 to address the allegations surrounding her.
She refuted the accusations and claimed that the YouTuber was making false reports.
Regarding the extortion rumors, she emphasized that her account was hacked and that she wasn't the one borrowing the money.
Areum said:
"You have a strong work ethic. Please upload more. Make a lot of money by selling ridiculous facts about other people's lives. I don't really care anymore. But please speak more slowly. People should misunderstand as much as they want, but aren't you talking too fast?"
She continued:
"The truth is destined to win, so I just decided to laugh. Everything will go as it should, and happiness and sorrow will intersect at the end."
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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz
