K-pop bullying controversy: NCT’s Taeyong finally cleared of picking on an overweight classmate – will SM Entertainment pursue legal action?
The NCT 127 leader has been harassed by the public and haters alike, due to an angry ex-classmate’s web of lies: now the truth has come to light – and Taeyong gets to tell his side of the story
For those not yet in the know, the leader of K-pop sensations NCT 127 was struck with controversy – rumours emerged alleging that Taeyong was a middle school bully when a nasty comment he had left on a class blog resurfaced on online communities.
An ex-classmate stepped forward to accuse Taeyong of bullying another schoolmate for her slightly larger frame, although many others had apparently left even worse comments. When this issue first arose, the young singer apologised and later met up with the victim personally in October 2019 to settle the issue amicably. This meeting was witnessed by a reporter who concluded that the now 25-year-old star had apologised sincerely and heard the victim out.
The issue should have ended there, but it seems the informant and the victim were unsatisfied. The two continuously tried to expose him further on online communities. Things hit a peak in May 2020, as they rehashed the issue online right before his group’s comeback, citing personality problems and a lack of sincerity in his apologies and atonement, to try and turn the public against him. Outraged, some former fans even posted a petition on social media calling for his exit from the group, citing damage to NCT’s image.
Joining the online petitions, hashtag protests circulated on Twitter, demanding his exit. The accounts that supported these have since been suspended.
In June 2020 however, the tables turned. A news outlet in South Korea revealed that the informant had fabricated their evidence, including screenshots of messages exchanged with Taeyong. These manipulated screenshots were made out to portray Taeyong as having ignored the victim’s plight, when he had in fact continued to keep in contact with the victim as friends, even inviting her to his concert.
The content was clearly fabricated. The victim had complained to Taeyong that he has not apologised sincerely and had gone into the settlement meeting with “his legs crossed and looking out the window”, his reply of “Thank you for worrying about my health. I will continue to take care of myself”, made it seem as if he was arrogantly ignoring her (1:37 in the video).
Real messages exchanged between the two showed that she thanked him for his apology and suggested they get along as friends from there on. He replied in the affirmative and invited her to one of his concerts.