SM Entertainment hired 10 law firms take legal action against persons spreading malicious rumors about their artists. This came amid a barrage of negative publicity surrounding Red Velvet's Irene and EXO's Chanyeol's.
It can be recalled that Irene recently came under fire after a photoshoot editor posted about a famous idol who verbally abused and demeaned her. Irene quickly owned up to her error and apologized for her behavior. She promised to reflect on her actions.
However, the issue quickly snowballed and many others shared their negative experiences with Irene. The Red Velvet leader was even accused by a former trainee of bullying.
After Irene's controversy, EXO's Chanyeol became the subject of public censure when a woman claiming to be his ex-girlfriend accused him of cheating on her during their three-year relationship.
The anonymous poster shared photos of Chanyeol and a woman whose face and body was blurred out. Chanyeol's accuser said that she was completely unaware that the EXO member was seeing other women, including her friends, behind her back, Koreaboo reported.
She even said that she had a recording of their conversation where Chanyeol tried to deny her allegations. The photos have been taken down by the original poster but some fans are posting evidence that the photos were manipulated.
In an attempt to further drag Chanyeol into the dirt, a person who claimed to be an acquaintance of Chanyeol and Baekhyun said that Baekhyun was not a fan of Chanyeol's actions.
In response, Baekhyun denied that he knew the person and likened her to an annoying mosquito that needed to be swatted away, All Kpop reported.
SM initially refused to take a position about the matter when they issued a brief statement on Chanyeol's issue.
Now, the label is stating their seriousness in their battle against netizens who are defaming their artists.
In their new statement, the label said that they hired 10 of the nation's top law firms to file civil and criminal lawsuits against persons who post malicious and baseless rumors about SM Entertainment artists.
The label said that they are fiercely cracking down on comments and slanderous posts made on online communities, social media, and portal sites that seek to discredit their artists. The label added that they are working closely with fans who are reporting thousands of malicious posts daily to their office.
