Dear Gossips,
The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story is a documentary about the scammer behind the formation of some of your favourite 90s boy bands that premiered at SXSW yesterday. Like I’ve been saying, 2019 is the Year of the Scam. The scams are endless. Joanna will be posting about the film later but there’s another boy band scam making international headlines this week coming out of South Korea.
Here’s Seungri, a member of the band Big Bang at the Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency today. Until recently, Seungri was on the board of a nightclub where it’s alleged that women were drugged and made them available for sexual assault by VIPs. Earlier this week, he announced that he’s quitting the band and the entertainment industry. After initially denying the charges, Seungri made a statement today before the media: “I lower my head and offer apology to the people and people nearby who were hurt and suffered ... I will fully engage in investigation with truthful answers."
The prostitution investigation has led to the downfall of another popular star, Jung Joon-young, a songwriter and television and radio personality, who was discovered to have filmed sex acts with ten women without their knowledge which he then shared in group chats with other men, assumed to also be celebrities. He too has announced that he’s quitting and released a statement on Tuesday. Per Billboard:
“I admit to all my crimes,” Jung said in a statement issued late Tuesday night (March 12), translated by Soompi from Korea's Herald. “I filmed women without their consent and shared it in a social media chatroom, and while I did so I didn’t feel a great sense of guilt.”
“More than anything, I kneel and apologize to the women who appear in the videos who have learned of this hideous truth as the incident has come to light, and to the many people who must be angry at the situation over which they cannot contain their disappointment and astonishment,” Jung said in the statement. He also used the opportunity to apologize and say he would partake in the investigation. Jung also announced a complete suspension of his work in the entertainment world.
In 2016, Jung was accused and then acquitted of filming a video with a sexual partner without her consent, though she later withdrew her charges.
This morning, another one – per The Guardian:
Yong Jun-hyung, 29, announced on Thursday that he would leave the boy band Highlight after he recanted his previous denials of receiving such videos.
Yong said he had received a clip that another entertainer had recorded without the woman’s consent and then participated in “inappropriate conversations” about it.
“All these behaviours were extremely unethical, and I was stupid,” he said in a message to his 1.7 million followers on Instagram.
It would appear the Predator Advent Calendar is now opening its doors in South Korea. Apparently more reveals are coming.
You know what adds another layer of f-cked up to this f-cksh-t? When I was watching footage of Seungri this morning, seeing him bow his head multiple times, one of my first thoughts was that, well, at least he’s showing shame and contrition. How often do we see celebrities in North America show shame and contrition? But also… THAT’s my benchmark now?! Flog me for this – GO AHEAD. I deserve it. I deserve your scorn, I deserve to be dragged, I deserve to be social media spat on. Because this is what’s happened to me: the bar has been set so low by famous people doing bad things and not being accountable for them that when another one does bad things and acts sorry for it, I gave it an “at least xyz” and looked for the positive. How could there possibly be a positive when a young man uses his power and influence to incapacitate women so that they can be taken advantage of by other men?! There is no positive. Whatever conditioning that prompted my response makes it even worse. And I’m very, very sorry about that.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
