BigBang, the veteran five-member boy band, have long been a prominent group on the K-pop scene, but most of its members have landed in trouble at some stage, tarnishing the group’s reputation as musicians.
While Big Bang's agency, YG Entertainment, works hard to paint the group's members in this light, the reality is that they've got some skeletons in their respective closets. From the prostitution scandal that shook the industry to the military service drama, this is the untold truth of Big Bang.

SEUNGRI

Actor and Big Bang member Seungri sensationally announced his retirement from the entertainment industry in March 2019, after becoming embroiled in a prostitution scandal. According to Seoul Metropolitan Police (via CNN), Gangnam nightclub The Burning Sun is being investigated on a string of serious charges. including violence against customers, securing prostitutes for guests, drug trafficking, and rape. Seungri, who handled promotions for the club, stepped down as a board member and apologized to fans during a concert.

"I think I'd better leave the entertainment industry at this moment," he posted to social media. "I just cannot bear causing any further damage to people around me, while being hated and criticized by the public and being treated as a nation's enemy during the investigation. I'm truly grateful for all my fans in Korea and in the world for showing much love for the past 10 years. I feel that I need to end it here for the reputation of YG and Big Bang."

However, this is not the first time Seungri has been caught up in controversy; he was embroiled in a sex scandal in 2012. A Japanese media outlet published a photo of him and a topless woman lying on a bed.In 2012, an anonymous female went to Japanese media about her one night stand with Seungri from BIGBANG.

The woman in the picture provided the photo, and she told reporters that Seungri “likes to strangle his partner while having sex”. YG did not respond to the report.

DAESUNG
On May 31, 2011, Daesung was involved in a car accident on Yanghwa Bridge, where he struck a motorcyclist known as Mr. Hyun, who was lying on the ground due to a previous accident. Shortly after hitting Mr. Hyun, Daesung also hit a taxi that was nearby. The taxi had stopped to try and help Mr. Hyun, who was unresponsive. YG Entertainment announced Daesung would be on hiatus and reflect on himself and his actions during the investigation.

There was a car driving ahead of Daesung, who was able to spot both Mr. Hyun on the ground and the taxi, which had its emergency lights flashing. Daesung was unable to react in time, as he was driving 80 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. He hit Mr. Hyun with his Audi, dragging him 22.8 meters across the expressway, and then hit the taxi that was parked.

Mr. Hyun was pronounced dead. Follow-up investigations by the police, however, concluded that Mr. Hyun had a blood alcohol level of 0.186% at the time of his original accident, more than 3 times the legal limit of 0.05%; this accident caused major injuries to his face, neck, and back.

During the investigations, Daesung stated that he did not see Mr. Hyun on the ground, and only noticed him after getting out of his car to check on the taxi driver. It was also determined during the investigations that neither Daesung nor the taxi driver had any alcohol in their system at the time of the crash.

The National Forensic Service (NFS) conducted an autopsy on Mr. Hyun, and determined that there was only 2 minutes and 12 seconds of time between Mr. Hyun’s first accident and Daesung’s collision with him. The NFS came to the conclusion that it was unlikely Mr. Hyun died of his injuries within that short amount of time.

“We have confirmed that illegal entertainment saloon is operating in the building owned by Daesung in Gangnam,” reported the general channel Channel A on July 25th. “We have detected circumstantial evidence that illegal business and prostitution are being conducted here.”

Channel A added that Daesung bought the building for 31 billion won in 2017 and that the estimated rental income for such a building in the heart of Gangnam is about 100 million won per month.

In particular, controversy is heating up over whether Daesung knew about the incident as it was reported differently to the building register when, in fact, it was confirmed that entertainment establishment that hires hostesses are operating illegally on five floors.

TOP
In 2007, T.O.P appeared on a TV interview broadcast wearing a jacket that had patches designed with the Rising Sun Flag, on both sides of the chest. Similar to the Nazi “swastika” in Western countries, the Rising Sung flag is considered offensive in many Asian countries because the symbol was used as the war flag for the Imperial Japanese army.

Drug Usage and Overdose
May 31, 2017. While he was serving in the military, T.O.P was revealed to have smoked marijuana in October 2016. While he originally denied the claims, saying he smoked an electronic cigarette, he later admitted that he did smoke marijuana from a statement through YG Entertainment.

First, we would like to convey our deepest sincerest apologies. After confirming details, Choi Seung Hyun [T.O.P] was in fact summoned for an investigation, under suspicion of smoking marijuana before his military enlistment.

He has complied with the investigation and has admitted to most of his crimes and is deeply regretting his actions. We are sorry to worry so many people.”

— YG Entertainment

It was discovered that a controversial trainee, Han Seo Hee, was originally charged with smoking marijuana, when investigators discovered that T.O.P smoked marijuana with her on at least 3 different occasions.

June 4, 2017. T.O.P confessed that he smoked marijuana twice. He was charged with using marijuana 4 times total: twice in liquid form and twice normally. He denied the charges of using it in liquid form, only admitting to using it normally.

June 6, 2017. Just 2 days after his confession, more news regarding T.O.P shocked the world as it was revealed he was rushed to the hospital following a drug overdose. YG Entertainment confirmed shortly after that T.O.P was indeed hospitalized.On the same day, it was revealed that T.O.P would regularly take sedatives, and had been taking them since 2016. The police shared that T.O.P had been regularly taking sedatives while in the military. The Korean military prohibits any person from having ingestible medication while on base, but the fact that T.O.P had access to these sedatives indicated that they had been prescribed to him.

June 29, 2017. T.O.P had recovered and was able to attend his trial in person, where he admitted to all 4 counts of using marijuana: twice in liquid form and twice in normal form.
T.O.P received 2 years of probation, with 10 months in prison if he violated probation.

August 23, 2017. Han Seo Hee broke her silence, and accused T.O.P and YG Entertainment of pinning the blame on her because she was a “nobody” and he had so much more to lose in terms of reputation.

I’ve acknowledged and am deeply reflecting about the crimes that I’ve committed. He was the first to offer [marijuana] to me. I never once forcefully persuaded him, and the liquid marijuana wasn’t even mine.

I thought I could understand that they would put the blame on me since I don’t have much to lose, and he had everything to lose. I thought it would be better to just stay silent and let it pass. People who wouldn’t believe me would never believe me anyway.

— Han Seo Hee

TAEYANG
What may have just seemed like a harmless Lunar New Year greeting to Taeyang ended up upsetting more people than he could have possibly imagined. Using an app that allows you to wear the 'face' of anyone you desire, Taeyang glamoured himself as Kanye West and proceeded to wish his fans a "happy monkey new year."

A picture says a 1000 words, no description or explanation is necessary for this one

“I’m not black, so I’ll probably have to have more experience and go through more pain if I want to express the sentiments, emotions, and soul that black people have through my music. That’s why I believe that pain and suffering will make my music richer.” - Taeyang

G-DRAGON

Marijuana
At the same time Daesung was on hiatus due to his car accident, another member of BIGBANG got into a controversy. On October 5, 2011, G-Dragon was indicted on charges of smoking marijuana. Marijuana is highly illegal in Korea, only just being legalized for specific instances of medicinal use back in November 2018.

Investigators determined that G-Dragon smoked marijuana in Japan sometime in May. On June 15, G-Dragon was subject to a urine drug test, which came out negative. However, hair drug test results released in July showed signs of marijuana.

G-Dragon confessed that he did consume a marijuana cigarette at a club in Japan. He didn’t know for sure that it was marijuana, but he still took it.

I smoked a cigarette that was given to me at a club. It smelled kind of different from a normal cigarette, so I had a suspicion that it was marijuana, but it is still true that I did smoke it.

— G-Dragon

Military
Starting in 2017, G-Dragon was accused of receiving special treatment regarding his (then) upcoming military enlistment. Koreans suspected G-Dragon of receiving special benefits due to the amount of time he was delaying his enlistment. However, it was proven that any Korean man is able to receive the majority of military delay length, minus the 90 days he received for celebrity promotions.

G-Dragon’s military enlistment was delayed from 2009 to August 2016 as he was considered a student, completing both undergraduate and post-graduate degrees. He also was able to receive an additional 370 days of enlistment delay due to his application to a Ph.D. program. Following the 90 days of enlistment delay he received as a celebrity, which was used to take part in BIGBANG’s Last Dance Tour, he enlisted in the military on February 27, 2018.
Less than 3 months after his enlistment, G-Dragon was reported to be hospitalized at a university hospital in Seoul due to nagging injury in his right ankle. YG Entertainment announced that G-Dragon would return to the military base once he’d recovered from his surgery.
Except even after he returned to his military base, he kept on returning to the hospital. The problem arose when G-Dragon was reportedly hospitalized in a large, luxury room that is not accessible for anyone under the Colonel rank. At the time, G-Dragon’s rank was Private First Class, one of the lowest ranks in the army.
Privates are supposed to use rooms that hold up to eight people, but instead, G-Dragon was able to stay at one of the best rooms in the hospital. His room contained air conditioning, a refrigerator, and a television for a comfortable stay. The rooms designated for Privates did not have these luxuries — not even private bathrooms. Dispatch checked to see if G-Dragon was placed in a special room because of overcrowding, but noted that many of the rooms were empty.


Visitors at the hospital were only allowed from 11am to 5pm. However, a fellow soldier claimed G-Dragon had visitors who stayed much later.
A representative from the military attempted to clear up the situation, stating luxury suites don’t exist at the Yangzhou Armed Forces Hospital. G-Dragon was staying in a one-person room that could be used by any personnel who has special needs during their recuperation. They also explained that air conditioning, refrigerators, and televisions are not exclusive to one-person rooms.
But Dispatch fired back, claiming both the Military representative and YG Entertainment’s statements were false. They released an image from what seemed to be a computer screen at the hospital, listing one of the rooms as ‘luxury room’. Dispatch explained that according to their investigation, G-Dragon stayed at the same very room.

The controversy was so great that the Korean government had to conduct an investigation.

Plagiarism
Big Bang fans often wax lyrical about G-Dragon's songwriting abilities, though the group's leader has actually been accused of plagiarism on more than one occasion. In 2017, fans noticed that his song "Intro: Middle Fingers Up" from his record-breaking solo album, Kwon Ji-Yong, sounded an awful lot like "iSpy" by U.S. rap artist KYLE.

KYLE isn't the first American rapper that G-Dragon has been accused of ripping off. In 2009, G-Dragon's name was dragged through the mud for allegedly plagiarizing the Flo Rida song "Right Round" with his remarkably similar track, "Heartbreaker." Sony Korea reportedly sent G-Dragon a strongly-worded letter and ordered him to stop promoting the song, but the Big Bang member's agency apparently managed to mop the mess up for him. YG Entertainment reportedly contacted Flo Rida personally to clear the air, and the Florida-native even wound up featuring on a 2010 "Heartbreaker" remix.

In 2007, BIGBANG released their the single “LIES,” and everything changed for the group. “LIES” became the group’s first major hit, topping all of the major charts, and it eventually took home the “Song of the Year” award at the 2007 MAMAs. Composed by G-Dragon, the track was also G-Dragon’s first major hit as a composer, and the success of the song helped establish G-Dragon as a major “producer-idol.”

A couple of months after the song was released, however, netizens started accusing G-Dragon of plagiarizing Japanese DJ’s FreeTEMPO and their track “Sky High” for “Lies”. G-Dragon stayed silent on the matter

What are your thoughts on these Scandals?