“The Givers” Ahn Sung Il Admits To Partly Falsifying Academic And Career Background after Multiple Companies Deny He Worked For Them

“The Givers” Ahn Sung Il, who was implicated in the group Fifty Fifty’s exclusive contract dispute, has partly admitted to falsifying his academic and career background. Amidst this revelation, some music industry officials have testified that it was not an exaggeration but a forgery concerning his career.

On the 25^th of July, “The Givers” released a statement and said, “Ahn Sung Il’s academic and career-related information was exaggerated.” They also used the phrase “incorrectly stated.”

Ahn Sung Il had previously claimed to being a graduate of Chung-Ang University to several entertainment agencies, but this turned out to be false. According to SpoTV News, he indicated on his resume that he majored in business at Chung-Ang University and even claimed to have studied composition at the university in front of some music industry officials.

However, the person who attended Chung-Ang University was not him but his relative. He had never been a student at Chung-Ang University.

His career background was also revealed to be partly falsified. Ahn Sung Il introduced his own history through the world’s largest corporate networking SNS and job search platform, LinkedIn. LinkedIn allows users to register and modify their own information.

On LinkedIn, Ahn Sung Il claimed to have held various positions such as co-founder of Zap Entertainment, production director (senior director) of Vitamin Entertainment, head creative director at Warner Music Korea, and partner and global rights manager at Beyond Music. However, most of these claims were either false or greatly exaggerated.

An associate well acquainted with Ahn Sung Il at the time stated to SpoTV News, “It is not true that he was the production director of Vitamin Entertainment and head creative director at Warner Music Korea.”  

The associate also pointed out that Ahn Sung Il forged his career as the head creative director of Warner Music Korea from January 2007 to 2011. In reality, Ahn Sung Il directly registered this career on LinkedIn and publicly claimed to some music industry officials that he was from Warner Music Korea or Warner Brothers. However, it is true that Vitamin Entertainment was merged with Warner Music Korea in 2007, but Ahn Sung Il did not engage in roles such as management or album production within Warner Music Korea or Warner Brothers, nor did he hold the position of head creative director (production director) for four years. The associate strongly asserted that this claim is simply an inconsistency.

Another informant also testified that Ahn Sung Il forged his academic and career background. In particular, this informant criticized Ahn Sung Il for consistently using the excuse of “exaggeration” even after his career falsification was exposed, stating, “I apologize for the confusion and will rectify it,” without acknowledging the forgery.

This informant stated to SpoTV News, “It’s absurd for Ahn Sung Il to continue claiming ‘exaggeration’ even after many people in the music industry heard and saw him proudly disclose his career. Can we call this ‘exaggeration’?” The informant voiced strong criticism.

Beyond Music has also released a statement in response to Ahn Sung Il’s claims. He had claimed that he served as a partner and global rights manager at Beyond Music from January 2020 to April 2023. However, Beyond Music countered that although he was involved when the company was established in 2021, he left the company around March of last year and has not been associated with them since, refuting the claim of working for over three years.

Ahn Sung Il was implicated by external forces for attempting to take members of the group Fifty Fifty from the agency Attract. He, however, appealed, saying, “I have no connection to that.”

Netizens have reacted furiously to this news and to his agency’s response.

Source: (A)