Actor Ji Soo (30, Kim Ji Soo) resolved misunderstandings with a middle school classmate who first revealed allegations of school violence, and it was revealed that the sexual assault rumors that spread indiscriminately about Ji Soo on the online platform at the time were proven to be false.
Ji Soo’s representative stated to SBS Entertainment News reporters, “After the actor posted the initial disclosure post, he posted a handwritten apology letter and stepped down from the drama in order to minimize the damage to the ongoing production. Afterwards, malicious sexual rumors were excessively spread and we took legal action, but some posts were deleted and disappeared before we could take action. The damage caused by not correcting this misinformation was too great, so legal responses are inevitable.”
The first disclosure post regarding Ji Soo’s school violence was made on March 2, 2021. On that day, shocking comments were posted on Ji Soo’s SNS, saying, “Kim Ji Soo, do you remember when you sexually assaulted a girl who was the same age as you in your third year of high school in 2011? I am that girl’s husband.”
After Ji Soo’s agency announced their intention to take legal action, the author of the post stated through the agency, “I never imagined that reporters would write articles without verifying the facts. Please take down the articles related to sexual assault.” They also apologized for spreading false information through the agency.
In addition, a netizen who identified themselves as Ji Soo’s high school classmate posted a message on an online community site stating, “Ji Soo had a dirty relationship with girls. I saw a video of him illegally filming a middle school student and laughing with his friends.” The post was soon deleted, and the author disappeared.
Regarding this post, Ji Soo’s representative strongly denied the shocking content of the post, stating, “The claim about illegal filming of a middle school student is clearly false, and although we intended to take legal action, the author had already deleted the post and disappeared, so we couldn’t respond.” They firmly denied that Ji Soo had ever engaged in illegal filming or had a relationship with a middle school student while in high school.
In response, Ji Soo’s high school classmate also revealed their real name to SBS Entertainment News reporters and volunteered for an interview, saying, “When Ji Soo was aspiring to become an actor, he was very cautious about his school life to an excessive degree. I was close enough with Ji Soo, among more than 800 classmates at the time, to know him well, and I have never heard of any sexual rumors about Ji Soo. Furthermore, close friends of Ji Soo know for a fact that until Ji Soo graduated from high school in his third year, he had a normal relationship with a girlfriend of the same age as him, just like any other classmate. I can confidently say that there were no sexual rumors involving Ji Soo during his middle school years.” They also expressed their support for Ji Soo.
On the 23rd, Ji Soo announced through the media that they had resolved misunderstandings and became supportive of each other’s future through a lengthy conversation with the classmate who wrote the first school violence post on March 2, 2021. Ji Soo, who suspended all entertainment activities in March 2021 due to the allegations of school violence, terminated their exclusive contract with KeyEast in May 2021 by mutual agreement. Ji Soo, who completed their social service at a senior citizens’ comprehensive welfare center and was discharged in July, is reported to not have any scheduled upcoming projects.
Source: (A)
