On January 17, 2025, the 12th Civil Division of the Seoul Western District Court held the third oral argument date for the 90 million won (approx 61,700 USD) damages lawsuit filed by Big Hit Music, as well as BTS’s V and Jungkook, against Mr. A, the operator of a YouTube channel that spread malicious rumors about celebrities.
According to a Star News report, Big Hit Music’s lawyer explained in writing, “We are changing the claim price to refute the claim that Mr. A’s motive for producing the malicious videos was unrelated to public interest and that the copyright issue also constitutes a violation of portrait rights.”
Meanwhile, Mr. A’s lawyer refuted claims of one of his videos’ interference with business and impact on stock prices due to . The lawyer argued, “There is a difference of about 4 months (between the video publish date and HYBE’s stock price decline), so it cannot have any impact. “
On the other hand, previously on Dec 20, 2024, V commented directly on a post on the global fan community platform Weverse. When a fan captured and mentioned a video that spread malicious rumors of V, saying “I hope they get sued”, V replied “Oh?! I’ll proceed with lawsuits.” He expressed his intention to sue, “They even touch my family and friends. Bye~”
Then V said, “I just looked at it as a superficial thing, and not only us but all artists hate people like him. ARMYs (BTS’ fandom) may or may not have been monitoring him, but I’ll sue on behalf of those who got hurt but didn’t have enough courage to do that.”
Meanwhile, the target that V announced he would proceed with lawsuits is a YouTube channel that often adds a YouTuber’s thoughts to topical issues. It is also criticized for degrading viewers’ ability to judge independently by excessive content reduction and exaggeration, as well as sensational titles for a high number of views.
Netizens praised V’s decision, “I’m a fan of another artist, but thank you for coming forward. I’ll support you”, “He’s mentally strong. Cool”, “I hope that those channels will be sued”, “I really hate criticizing idols by creating malicious rumors”…
