Nam Joo Hyuk has been under the spotlight for the wrong reasons recently.
In the past weeks, the actor has been accused of bullying his former classmates and abusing them physically, mentally, and emotionally. His agency, Management SOOP, has since dismissed the claims and warned them of potential legal charges.
While his issue about bullying is yet to quiet down, the Twenty Five Twenty One actor received more allegations.
Nam Joo Hyuk’s Underage Drinking, Cyberbullying Surfaced
Before his former classmates and teachers defended him from the allegations, a photo of Nam Joo Hyuk drinking while still underage surfaced.
The blurry picture was uploaded on the then-famous blogging site, Cyworld, in September 2011. Four students were captured in the photo, including Nam Joo Hyuk. A news outlet shared a copy of it online.
Management SOOP responded to the first claim, saying that it was busy with school bullying accusations and could not respond to the new rumors yet.
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Meanwhile, a third anonymous accuser alleged that Nam Joo Hyuk cyberbullied them in 2012. It became the third accusation since Victims A and B came forward.
“One of Nam Joo Hyuk's group members didn't like me, so just for that reason, he invited me to a group chatroom where they took turns cursing at me,” the accuser said.
YouTuber Lee Jin Ho Investigated Claims + Management SOOP Releases New Statement
After the issues surfaced, an entertainment reporter turned YouTuber uploaded a new video on YouTube and said that the allegations were not true.
According to Lee Jin Ho, he examined the context of the allegation and found that Nam Joo Hyuk was not the one who ignited the bullying. He noted that 12 students of Suil High School — including the actor — were invited to a Kakao group chat with the victim.
The participants started cursing the victim until Nam Joo Hyuk asked them to stop. Although he also used foul language, Lee Jin Ho was sure that the actor was not the one who initiated and participated in it.
He also pointed out that underage drinking and smoking are common among students.
"At that time, the group of friends had a strong friendship and raised their voices to defend Nam Joo Hyuk. 18 individuals all raised the same voice, but just because they are saying the same thing does that mean we can hastily judge that the victims' claims are not true?” it went on, per Nate News.
Management SOOP has begged everyone to stop false anonymous accusations since it is getting tougher for them to prove that he is innocent although the accusations are truly baseless.
In the end, it said it would pursue legal action without second thoughts against further accusers.
Check back for more stories, updates, and rumors about Nam Joo Hyuk here at EpicStream!
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