K-pop star-actress Suzy must pay compensation for false Instagram post over sexual harassment claim
K-pop singer-actress Suzy and two other defendants have been ordered by a South Korean court to jointly pay compensation of 20 million won (US$17,000) to the owner of a photographic studio, after they wrongly identified it as being involved in a YouTube star’s sexual harassment claim.
Suzy, 24, whose real name is Bae Su-ji, was part of the four-member girl group, Miss A, which made its debut in 2010 and disbanded in 2017, and is known for her appearance in the hit Korean television series, While You Were Sleeping, in 2017.
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In May 2018, Yang Ye-won, the YouTube celebrity who runs the popular channel Beagle Couple, claimed that she had been sexually harassed and forced into posing for nude photographs while working as a fitting model at a photographic studio in 2015.
After her allegations went public, two unnamed defendants filed government petitions calling for the punishment of the studio, which they mistakenly identified as Once Picture Studio, which had nothing to do with Yang’s original claim.
Suzy then added her support to the petitions by posting a screen grab of the petitions on her Instagram feed, without realising that the petitions had wrongly named the offending studio as Once Picture Studio.
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The CEO of Once Picture Studio filed a complaint against the trio in June 2018, seeking 100 million won in compensation for the damage the false allegations had caused his business.
“I could not run the studio properly for several months because of the studio being wrongly named [in the petitions],” the CEO was quoted as saying.
Last Thursday, Judge Ban Hyo-rim, of the Seoul Southern District Court, said in a ruling: “The three defendants should jointly pay 20 million won to Once Picture Studio.”
However, a compensation claim by the CEO of Once Picture Studio against the government was dismissed.
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- Seoul court orders ex-member of girl group Miss A and two other defenders to jointly pay US$17,000 after wrongly identifying photo studio in YouTube star’s allegation