In a development that can be considered as a setback to DSP Media, the company's lawsuits, against the brother of former April member Hyunjoo for making allegations of bullying against the group members, have been dismissed.
The legal counsel of Hyunjoo has told the media that DSP Media's filings of lawsuits have been rejected and the news has been confirmed on Tuesday, 8 June, reports Koreaboo. Her representatives have also stated that the team is working hard to bring out the truth in the bullying case.
How it Came to Light?
In February 2021, Hyunjoo's brother revealed online that the actress was the victim of bullying during her stint with her former group April. She was ostracised due to which she had a panic disorder and other health issues, her brother had alleged. He had also revealed that the idol had tried to kill herself out of frustration.
After the controversy broke out, DSP Media met her family and tried to solve the issue, but the talks failed. Hence, the company decided to go for a legal war against Hyunjoo.
Hyunjoo Broke Her Silence
Two months after the allegations were made, Hyunjoo took the courage to talk about the issue for the first time. In a statement released on Instagram, she said that the bullying started in 2014 and she informed about the issues that she was facing to her family. They brought it to the notice of the agency's CEO, but it fell on deaf ears and she suffered more harassment after the members came to know that she had raised a complaint with the agency.
"During those three years, I was forced to suffer because of violent actions and behaviour, ridicule, swearing, and attacks on my character, and it was especially painful to bear groundless insults and attacks on the character of my precious grandmother, mom, dad, and younger brother. The agency knew about this, but only looked on without taking any measures to respond," she added.
Chaewon and Yena's Response
Later, April's Chaewon and Yena shot down the allegations made by Hyunjin. The former claimed that she had the responsibility of reuniting the team members after Somin's exit.
Chaewon claimed that Hyunjoo was physically and mentally weak due to which she had paid special attention towards her. Further, she denied her link-up with the then manager. "Also, I am truly upset about the false rumor [that I dated] a manager, and it is complete nonsense. The idea that a manager could overlook company matters however they wished is impossible, and our manager at the time must have undergone a lot of stress due to Hyunjoo. I also have proof related to this." she was quoted as saying by Soompi
On her turn, Yena claimed that it was cruel to expect people from the same age group to take care of a mentally and physically weak person when everyone was going through a difficult phase. She continued, "Yet how are people able to easily speak as if they know us better than ourselves as if they were there and experienced those situations together with us? Ever since that day [that the allegations were made], we have been silently suffering and enduring on our own, just like we did back then [when Hyunjoo was in the group], without even knowing how time is passing by. How much more do we have to suffer? How much longer do we have to endure these kinds of incidents?"
