SM And JYP Announced Strong Legal Actions Amid RIIZE And Stray Kids Got In Continuous Rumors
SM and JYP eventually “pulled out their swords” due to malicious rumors related to their artists.
Recently, unconfirmed rumors about male idol groups under SM Entertainment (SM) and JYP Entertainment (JYP) have gone viral on online communities. As the rumors spread, malicious comments against the artist were made.
RIIZE’s Anton also suffered from rumors. Recently, a photo of Anton and a woman holding hands was posted online, raising suspicions that the woman was Anton’s girlfriend. However, the woman explained that she had been friends with Anton since she was young, and that fans should not make unfounded assumptions. Despite the woman’s explanation, some netizens continued to criticize Anton.
As groundless rumors and speculation continued, each agency directly spoke up to protect artists. SM announced on its official fan community on Weverse on March 13th that it will take a strong response against defamation of its artists without agreement and leniency, saying, “There are continuous illegal activities such as the indiscriminate dissemination of false information about RIIZE members around social media and online communities, posts that go too far, personal attacks, insults, and malicious slander.” SM then announced they might take legal actions if these behaviors continue.
RIIZE members also shared their position on the rumors through a live broadcast. Anton said, “A lot of things happened over the past few days, I was upset because there were many things that were different from how I truly felt,” adding, “I’m really sorry for the feelings that the fans must have had, which was not what I wanted. I wanted to convey my sincerity as soon as possible, as our fans were confused and upset.”
Eunseok said, “The first thing I wanted to tell you is that we didn’t do anything for BRIIZE (the official fandom name of RIIZE) to worry about, so I hope you believe us. I’m grateful and sorry to the fans who worried about us.”
JYP also announced on March 14th that it will take strong legal action without leniency or agreement, saying, “We are closely securing data from those who posted and distributed malicious postings such as malicious slander, defamation, and false information about our artists.” JYP also added that it will protect the rights and interests of artists and strive for its fans.
