An alleged new piece of "evidence" has surfaced, redirecting attention to the "bullying scandal" within the disbanded girl group April.
Previously in 2021, a netizen claiming to be the younger brother of former April member Lee Hyunjoo first raised accusations of bullying against April members Kim Chaewon, Lee Naeun, Lee Jinsol, and Yang Yena.
After a series of statements and exchanges, Lee Hyunjoo was eventually sued for defamation by the April members and the group's label, DSP Media.
However, the court concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Lee Hyunjoo "lied about her experiences" and "defamed" the members of April.
Then, recently, several alleged staff members who claimed they worked with April during their early career days stepped up to deny the validity of the "bullying scandal".
As the scandal garnered the attention of Korean netizens and media once again, an alleged new piece of "evidence" was shared by an anonymous SNS user. The "evidence" consists of a court decision document from one of Lee Hyunjoo's defamation cases. According to the document,
"According to the witness Lee X Jin, it is true that the relationship between the suspect (Lee Hyunjoo) and the girl group April was not good, and that the suspect did in fact suffer as an outcast. There were occasions when trouble arose between Lee Hyunjoo and April... Another witness Choi X Kyung testified that there were frequent disagreements between the suspect and the other April members, and that it was difficult to establish a good relationship between the suspect and the April members."
Additionally, the court document indicated that the recording of a phone call from July 19, 2021, was submitted to the court as evidence.
What follows is an alleged transcription of the phone call recording mentioned above. (Note: There is no proof that the conversation transcribed below is the genuine recording submitted to the court as evidence.)
According to the transcription, a male DSP Media trainee at the time received a request to meet up with the members of April and representatives of DSP Media.
Speaker 1: Lee Naeun...
Speaker 2: You don't even know her that well.
Speaker 1: Right. We never actually hung out or anything like that.
Speaker 1: But... they apparently want me to say... and it's not like they want me to straight out lie but...
Speaker 1: They want me to say that 'We were together. We went on trips.'
Speaker 2: (Sigh)
Speaker 1: They want me to say that 'We went on a trip to Gapyeong.'
Speaker 2: What kind of nonsense is that?
Speaker 1: They want me to testify.
Speaker 1: And apparently, they'll buy it for 10 million won.
Speaker 2: (Sigh) Who?
Speaker 1: April. They called Yoon Young hyung. Yoon Young hyung told me, 'If you have a photo of you and Hyunjoo hanging out, they'll buy it for 10 million won.'"
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