A former trainee of JYP Entertainment has made a shocking allegation of discrimination by the agency for his sexual orientation. His relationship with another boy cost him his career and he lost the opportunity to make it big in the K-pop industry.
Struggles of a Gay in Showbiz
Hong Kong-based KilliAN aka Lin Jia Le has opened up on the struggles he faced in the industry for being gay. According to him, he received a contract from JYP Entertainment as a trainee when he was 14 and the agency was prepping up for the debut of 2PM and 2AM groups, Koreaboo claims him of making a confession.
He would have possibly found a place in one of the two groups if the agency had not found out that he was gay. JYP Entertainment was not happy with KilliAN for being in a relationship with another boy, hence the young boy was thrown out of the company as it was unwilling to take a chance, the report claims. Further, his nationality played a part in the termination of his contract.
New Company, but Old Issue Persists
KilliAN claims that he was trained under five more agencies before he decided to leave to Hong Kong. However, the situation did not improve for him as the new agency was having a close eye on his movements and he was apparently under "house arrest."
His ex-boss asked him for testosterone injections as he had a feminine voice. In another company, the boss tried to sexually exploit him at a karaoke bar and he was offered a film in return for a sexual favour.
He rejected the offer and moved on. "Right now I'm just going with the flow in terms of building my career in the entertainment industry," Koreaboo quotes him as saying.
Acceptance of LBGTQ in Korea
LBGTQ community is getting more tolerance and acceptance in Korea, but the representation of the community is relatively small in the entertainment industry.
However, netizens have questioned KilliAN's claims about getting mistreatment by JYP Entertainment, which has introduced many talented artists like 2PM, Twice, Stray Kids and Itzy among many others, for being gay. They opine that trainees are not allowed to be in relationships during the trainee days by most of the agencies and his contract was not terminated because of his sexuality.
Check out their Reactions:
Jacqueline | 매일매일 넌 수고 해써요 ♡: Caught in a relationship.... any kind of romantic relationship is not allowed when training or in first 3 years after debut, ofc he was asked to leave
yuta !!: okay are we seriously surprised at this? plus it said that he was in a relationship which i'm sure isn't allowed as a trainee Face with raised eyebrow
Mickey: By the comments im assuming some of you didn't read the article nor the title, they said "gay relationship" not just for being gay, as dating is banned for sometime after debut, 2nd of all he expressed that his nationality also played a big part in him being kicked
h o n e yツFour leaf clover: It's because trainees aren't allowed to date I'm sure it's not because of his sexuality
Source? Because from what I've read & watched from many idols, they were never allowed to date as trainees, take miyeon from g idle as an example when she was at YG and how the bp members weren't even able to talk to the male trainees when they were still trainees
#SUMMERHOLIDAYCarousel horseFerris wheelPerforming arts: A trainee have permission to date? I don't think so plus Jo Know debut in 2AM, I am not saying that he is gay but he is a person who is in contact with his feminine side and still debuted so idk maybe te problem was un his relationship during his training days Thinking face...
Dyani Masita | 디아니: Hmm but I'm sure he would be kicked out as well even if he dated a girl. I mean, someone caught him right..
/ . : This sucks but it's probably not even because of homophobia. It's common knowledge that trainees aren't allowed to have relationships of any kind.
Them Tweets Though: I mean, couldn't they have asked him to leave because he was dating as a trainee? Most trainees aren't allowed to date, period. And he dated ANOTHER JYP trainee. That's an even bigger no-no. Person shrugging
I don't think him being gay was THE issue. I think it was an issue but not THE issue
