Immediately after Hybe released the first images of Kim Garam from THE SSERAFIM, the idol immediately found itself in the middle of a controversy over school bullying.
On April 5, Source Music introduced the second member of THE SSERAFIM – Kim Garam (born 2005). Garam quickly caught the attention of the public thanks to his visual.
A few hours later, old photos of Kim Garam were shared on several Korean online communities. One photo shows a photo of a board with a message congratulating Kim Garam, who is debuting as THE SSERAFIM, and a photo of Kim Garam posing against a sexual content sign in the background.
Kim Garam is said to have harassed several students on social networks. A netizen also revealed that Garam bullied his juniors, hospitalized a classmate, stole money, smoked and drank as a minor.
In addition to the allegations, a screenshot of Kim Garam’s old Facebook account was also posted. The content shocked with the captions on her selfies that read: What do you think of[avoir] sex [avec moi] Today? †
- Kim Chae-on: ‘I will be your sexual partner. †
- Kim Garam: “Aing, message me on Facebook. †
- garam : Yes, if you refuse my call, I will kill youㅋㅋ
fellow student : No
garam : pick up the damn slope
fellow student : please don’t call me
– Please
garam : Why do not you answer?
– I acted like this because I was too pissed off, sorryㅋㅋ
“We went to the same school and there’s more to tell about her. I’m leaving a faded photo of her. I’ll delete it immediately”
There were also reports that Kim Garam was a Starship apprentice and may have been dropped from IVE’s roster.
“The kid who said she was a Starship apprentice did a great job, if we didn’t know about her we never would. She was on the first team of IVE, but was fired and went to HYBE. †
“THE SSERAPHY! <3 congratulations on Kim Garam's debut <3
“Hybe” – you know Bangtan, right?
(Source Music) Debut with Sakura and Kim Chaewon
They defeated IVE
“Garam van Le Sserafim” is a bully at school
Today I went to school and we all thought the same, what kind of courage does she show?
Who are you to debut with Sakura and Kim Chaewon??????? ” Bee writes another user.
On the morning of April 6, Source Music and Hybe responded to this rumor: “We already have a handle on the content that is currently being exposed. We will make our position known as soon as the facts are clarified.”
Hours later, Hybe and Source Music released an official statement, which read:
“Hello, this is HYBE.
We’d like to update you on our stance on the suspicions regarding Kim Garam, who has been confirmed for her debut as a member of Source Music’s girl group LE SSERAFIM under HYBE.
Since yesterday, allegations have been made against her on several sites and we have conducted an internal verification process. The results are as follows:
The recent allegations have been slyly crafted to slander Kim Garam about the events that took place when she made friends in early high school.
Contrary to claims, a third party statement confirmed that Kim Garam was bullied at school, including malicious gossip and cyberbullying, when she was in high school.
In addition, rumors that Kim Garam was an apprentice at another agency or leaking internal documents have been confirmed to be untrue.
We believe the allegations are intended to harm the artist about to debut, and we inform you that Source Music has filed a lawsuit against the dissemination of one-sided and distorted allegations and false information regarding this case.
Therefore, we sincerely ask that you do not make any speculative reporting based on suspicions that are currently being maliciously expressed online.
In addition, the allegations made contain defamation of anyone who is still a minor before their celebrity debut, and we want to make it clear that we will take legal action without any settlement or leniency.
Thank you.”
