K-pop fans are anticipating many new Korean girl band debuts this year, but Lesserafim continues to steal most of the spotlight. Helmed by South Korean giant Hybe (the agency behind BTS) and its subsidiary Source Music, it’s the agency’s first all-female group, debuting with a sterling six-member line-up that includes Miyawaki Sakura, Kim Chae-won (former members of Iz*One), Huh Yun-jin, Kazuha Nakamura, Kim Garam and Hong Eun-chae. The band recently made its debut with its first official music video Fearless (“I’m Fearless” is an anagram of the band’s name). Though it sparked rave reviews, the group has in fact been causing controversy since it first made headlines. From gossip mongers trying to drag up a member’s bullying past, to the group’s choreography receiving tons of backlash from netizens, Lesserafim continues to be a hot topic on everyone’s lips. Here we take a look at five of the scandals surrounding the highly anticipated girl band. 1. Kim Garam’s bullying past Soon after Source Music unveiled the group’s six members, one of them drew particularly negative attention online: Kim Garam was accused of being a bully at school. Not only that, but as quoted from Meaww, “a photo of Garam standing in front of a chalkboard with pornographic drawings was released”, which spread like wildfire on the internet. What happens to failed K-pop stars? 4 former idols who changed careers However, Hybe and its subsidiary Source Music quickly squashed the overnight scandal by releasing an official statement. [공지] 르세라핌 김가람 관련 의혹에 대한 입장 pic.twitter.com/V9hxM2ZaV7 — SOURCEMUSIC (@SOURCEMUSIC) April 6, 2022 “Since yesterday, there have been accusations made against her [Kim Garam] on various online communities, and we have conducted our own internal investigation on these claims. The result of our investigation is as follows. The accusations that maliciously slandered Kim Garam were maliciously edited to overemphasise the events that occurred during a time when she was making friends in her early middle school days.” It continued, “Contrary to the claims, it was confirmed through a third-party statement that Kim Garam was actually a victim of school bullying such as cyberbullying and malicious rumours when she entered school.” The official statement ended with, “We would like to reiterate that we will take legal action without any chance of settlement,” as the allegations contained attempted defamation. 2. “Inappropriate” choreography Despite the girls’ debut single Fearless doing extraordinarily well with over 53 million views at the time of writing, the happy occasion also drew backlash from netizens – in particular concerning the choreography of the music video. 5 times Blackpink’s Lisa proved she’s Thailand’s unofficial princess The music video showed off some cool dance moves and beats, but sparked criticism for some of the more provocative choreography. According to KBI Zoom, some netizens thought the choreography was inappropriate because some of the girl group’s members are minors. 3. Plagiarised dance moves? As if that’s not enough backlash, there’s more. When Hybe dropped the group’s teaser music video, netizens alleged that the choreography was plagiarised from another iconic K-pop girl group, Twice . During the teaser video, the girls were seen hugging their own body as part of the choreography, but some netizens pointed out that they have seen the exact same dance moves in Twice’s I Can’t stop me . Concerned fans made public comments: “I thought Lesserafim was going in the same direction as Blackpink with their girl crush concept, but their choreography is like Twice’s,” per Korean media. 4. What about Gfriend? While Hybe and Source Music publicly addressed and handled the Kim controversy with dignity, some fans are still frustrated that the Korean music agency didn’t show the same support for the now- disbanded girl group Gfriend . one of the most beautiful things about gfriend is that they grew up with their albums 🥺 from high school girls to ladies to women ✨ pic.twitter.com/1jarI3KWqH — naomi (@hyyhsinb) May 2, 2022 Source Music formed Gfriend in 2015 and the girl group went on to attain success, winning several rookie awards, and achieving impressive commercial sales and great momentum. However, the girl group disbanded in May 2021 after all of the members left when their contracts finished. 5 things to know about Park Seo-joon, Marvel’s next Korean star God is truly fair... this company bring misfortune on their one and only (ex) gg, now misfortune befallen them. https://t.co/PslGENMUjf — ◺◊◿moe⁶moe⁷ (@rashlovesto) April 6, 2022 Some fans have been furious and downright confused about why Source Music didn’t show the same protection of Gfriend that they gave to Lesserafim. One Korean report cited an excerpt from a frustrated fan: “The women who built you from the ground up did not get the bare minimum protection from you for six years btw.” Another fan explained further, “Gfriend was used by both of them, and while Source [Music] was just overworking them [and] not spending their hard-earned money on them … [they] did not even gave one single apology for info leakage at least.” "why are buddies making this about gfriend" because this was literally posted by SOURCE MUSIC aka GFRIEND'S COMPANY??? they have NEVER defended gf this way in all the years they were under them ofc we have a right to be pissed and call them out?? jfc what is not clicking https://t.co/RD7jEMoTeW — toast ʚϊɞ kghn daily (@slurpoofs) April 6, 2022 Even worse, after the fandom blowout, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) had Source Music pay a fine of US$2,300 (3 million won) for leaking customer’s private information, according to KBI Zoom. It refers to a case where Source Music used a Google questionnaire to refund fan club membership fees, but accidentally revealed the personal details of 22 fans in the process. 5. Controversial outfits Another controversy that the group has faced is its choice of suggestive fashion ensembles – especially considering that member Eunchae is only 15 years old. Fans were baffled at the unlikely combination of wearing tennis outfits with high heels, saying, “no one can play tennis in high heels!” Fans also commented that the nature of the revealing outfits didn’t emphasise sportiness and only made Hybe and Source Music’s dubious motivations more apparent: to supposedly objectify Lesserafim and to create unnecessary exposure for the newbies. But as they say, any publicity is good publicity … right? Want more stories like this? Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter .