On the October 14 broadcast of JTBC's 'Crime Chief,' the underage fan/victim and his mother spoke out following Jessi's apology and shared additional information about the incident.
On October 12, Jessi issued an official statement of apology as the controversy regarding the latest assault incident involving one of her fans heightened. In the statement, Jessi apologized for causing public concerns with the recent assault reports but claimed that she did not know the assailant and had met him for the first time.
However, according to the victim and his mother, Jessi was aware of who the assailant was and tried to grab him as he assaulted the victim. The victim's mother explained, “I saw the apology right away, but it was just full of excuses. Saying, 'They weren't together, and the person just appeared out of nowhere' doesn’t make any sense. My child said they were together. When Jessi stood up, she tried to catch the person (the assailant), but he got away. She then stood by and watched as the assault happened. When she said, ‘I don’t know him, he just suddenly appeared and attacked,’ it made me angry.” The victim added, "It doesn’t seem like she is genuinely reflecting on the situation, and the use of the term ‘moral responsibility’ in her apology feels insincere."
Despite the victim's claims, Jessi continues to keep her stance that she did not know the assailant.
In response, many Korean netizens are criticizing the artist for what they perceive as an insincere apology, pointing out that regardless of whether Jessi knew the assailant, she failed to protect her fan during the assault and instead walked away.
They commented:
"At a time when a simple apology like 'I'm sorry, I was wrong' wouldn't even be enough, why is she repeatedly saying 'I don't know the person' and 'I wasn't aware'? Even if she didn't know, that fan was being beaten, and she just stood by and walked away? She could have at least tried to break it up or, like her usual tough image, yelled at the attacker."
"This coward has been making money by pretending to be tough, but now she's acting like she doesn't know anything, lol."
"Goodbye, Jessi, I won't see you off."
"You've been making money in Korea for 20 years, but still can't speak Korean properly, yet the apology statement on social media was perfectly written? Your agency's doing a great job, writing it for you~ No way those were her own words. There's zero sincerity."
"She always acted so tough on TV, but now she's all 'what do I do, what do I do,' lol."
"I hope those empty-headed gangsters all disappear from society."
"The way she handled this... if your job relies on your image, you should have been more thorough in your response."
"I liked her on variety shows and her music, but now if I saw her on the street, I’d probably be excited and ask for a photo... But I don't want to get punched in the face! Just stop working in Korea and go to China, where you can be a gangster and drink Qingdao beer."
"She was embroiled in a very bad assault case but she's busy running off."
"Just say you're sorry and going to self-reflect. But instead, you keep saying you don't know... Hope you take a good break."
"Jessi, what's important isn't the fact that you don't know the assailant. It's the fact that you just left your fan there while he was being beaten! Isn't it true that you were drinking with the same assailant before? You might be thinking to yourself, 'What did I do wrong?' but then..."
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