GRAM Entertainment issued an official statement on September 11th that reads, “We sincerely apologize to many people who have been concerned due to the controversy related to Kim Hieora. We apologize to those who have been disappointed and hurt by this incident.”
They also stated, “Today, our agency cannot overlook the current situation in which one-sided claims by the informant are presented as proven facts by a certain media outlet, causing damage to our artist’s reputation and even affecting unrelated individuals. Therefore, we have decided to take legal action.”
They continued, “We intend to take strong legal action against the media outlet for their actions during the reporting process, as well as against those who continue to make baseless claims in the future.”
GRAM Entertainment also detailed Dispatch’s reporting content and the sequence of events.
They pointed out, “The initial report by the media outlet not only maliciously edited the informants’ words to misrepresent the facts but also added a nuance that seems to apply the crime of ‘conspiracy’ by alleging that our agency and our artist were conspiring.”
They also revealed, “The media outlet visited Kim Hieora on May 17th without notifying anyone from our agency and attempted to coerce and compel her by saying, ‘If you admit, we will adjust the level of the article. Then, you can make a comeback.’“
They criticized Dispatch for repeatedly asking Kim Hieora the same questions regarding her claim of never smoking and for publishing only the informant’s words, subtly mentioning the suspicion of “buying cigarettes,” which could mislead the public.
They further stated that despite this, there has been no contact from the informants to the agency or any meetings, and they accused the informants of deceiving the agency with lies and false actions.
They emphasized, “Many individuals’ rights are being violated due to the allegations raised against Kim Hieora. Because of the generalization that labels celebrities as ‘iljin gang members’ and ‘school bullies’ for any dispute, even unrelated individuals are suffering from being suspected of iljin activities and school violence.”
GRAM Entertainment expressed their earnest hope that no more victims would emerge due to reckless reporting behavior. They stated, “The truth of this case will be thoroughly determined legally, and we intend to clarify the right and wrong of the so-called evidence claimed by the media and the misunderstandings with the informants in court.”
Previously, Dispatch has been continuously reporting follow-up articles related to Kim Hieora’s past and school violence allegations since their initial report.
On September 9th, Dispatch released a recorded conversation between Kim Hieora and informant H, who claimed to have suffered violence. On September 11th, they published the full interview content with the informants to counter Kim Hieora’s side’s stance.
Kim Hieora’s side maintains that the informants’ claims are one-sided and that the allegations of school violence are not true. They criticize Dispatch for expanding a dispute among friends into iljin activities and school violence.
On another note, despite the controversy, Kim Hieora successfully completed the musical “Frida” on September 9th, receiving a standing ovation.
Source: daum