The K-pop boy group Fantasy Boys Gyurae has refuted the allegations exposed by an anonymous netizen (kgrdieSO_O3) on platform X (former Twitter). The netizen hacked into his private IG account and accused the group’s 22-year-old stylist of pursuing an inappropriate relationship with the 15-year-old Idol. Read ahead to find out the complete controversy and Gyurae’s statement.
Fantasy Boys Gyurae refutes alleged grooming by stylist
On December 18, 2023, Fantasy Boys (stylized as FANTASY BOYS) agency PocketDol Studio published an official statement on Daum Cafe, refuting the claims made by the netizen (krgdieSO_O3) and questioning the authenticity of the evidence.
They further clarified that the content of the alleged conversation between Idol and the stylist is taken out of context and is possibly forged using editing tools. They believe that it was created to spread ‘groundless’ information and damage the reputation of their artist.
Thereby, the agency and the artist are going to file a complaint with the local police in the afternoon. They are also discussing additional legal actions against the netizen (krgdieSO_O3) on charges of slandering and participating in illegal activity of cybercrime and blackmail.
Not only that, the company also plans to take additional legal actions against the netizens who spread the misinformation by creating, reproducing, and distributing the leaked social media content by the original publisher as a piece of alleged evidence.
What is the netizen’s “evidence” in Fantasy Boys Kim Gyurae grooming allegations?
Firstly, the netizen (KrgdieSO_O3) published the alleged evidence to prove that Gyurae is in an inappropriate relationship with his 22-year-old hairstylist. However, considering their age gap, K-pop fans are discussing the issue as a possible case of grooming rather than the intended dating scandal.
The netizen shared that they were a fan of Gyurae and frequently visited South Korea from Japan to support him. They had also become friends with some of the locals one of whom was working at a salon where Gyurae frequently visits.
One day, the netizen happened to run into the artist and witnessed him holding hands with his hairstylist. They assumed it was an inappropriate romantic relationship between a middle schooler and his stylist and felt greatly disappointed.
Following this the netizen asked for Gyurae and his hairstylist’s private Instagram handle details from the friend and hired Japanese hackers to access the accounts. As per Netizen, this was a necessary step to expose the 15-year-old idol’s “betrayal” to fans who genuinely love and support him and demand his expulsion from the group.
They further attached alleged screenshots of Gyurae’s private interactions with the stylist. The messages show them chatting between their schedules, sharing images and videos, and joking about hanging out with each other.
The messages appear to be in non-professional and friendly tones which can be interpreted as flirting or friendship but there isn’t any direct indication of a romantic relationship. Furthermore, the agency has expressed its doubts about the images’ authenticity so nothing can be concluded before a police investigation.
However, Gyurae’s fans are demanding the agency cut ties with the hair salon and take legal action against the hairstylist for allegedly grooming their underage artist. We will have to wait for officials’ and agencies’ updates to know what actually happened but in both cases (grooming or fake allegations) the victim Gyurae should receive complete support and care.