Jessi Issues Apology Concerning Teenage Fan's Assault

Soloist Jessi has been under fire since a teenage fan accused her of lack of accountability for her friends’ actions.

The young fan had been assaulted by someone who had been with Jessi and her friends. Jessi was seen leaving the scene when the fight escalated.

Initially, Jessi claimed in a now-deleted post that she had just met the person who assaulted her fan. She claimed that she has been in contact with the victim’s family, feeling a sense of responsibility for the situation regardless.

Hello, this is Jessi.

First of all, I sincerely apologize to everyone who may have been disturbed by the reports regarding the recent assault incident involving me.

While I was attending a gathering with personal acquaintances, one of my fans, who became the victim, approached me to ask for a photo. Since it was late at night, I politely declined—twice, and in that moment, an incident occurred where the fan was suddenly assaulted by someone I met for the first time that day. The situation escalated so quickly that I was also caught off guard and unable to properly handle the situation or look after the fan with care.

I deeply regret that my fan had to suffer harm in such an unjust manner, and I feel a great sense of responsibility for my failure to intervene properly. After the incident, both my agency and I have been in contact with the victim’s family and are working hard to help the victim find and bring the perpetrator to justice so they can receive an apology and compensation, and so the perpetrator is held accountable and properly punished.

I kindly request that you refrain from spreading unverified claims or speculative reports related to this incident, as it may cause further harm.

— Jessi

Some have vilified Jessi for her lack of responsibility in the situation that quickly escalated. Some feel that she should not have stepped away from the scene or that she could have tried more actively to stop her acquaintances. A lot has happened in such a short time, as Jessi parted ways with her agency almost immediately after the controversy broke out, and she faced interrogation over the identity of the attacker.

A female celebrity was blamed, interrogated by police for hours, demonized in Korea, dropped by her sponsors, all because two men got into a fight and she tried to stop it.

wtf is wrong with Korea sometimes bro? Jessi doesn’t deserve all this hate. https://t.co/GU1SS2YH6Q

— Gina Darling (@MissGinaDarling) October 18, 2024

Now, Jessi has released a new statement concerning the controversy. She apologized via Instagram to the victim and his family. She expressed her regrets about how she handled the situation.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by JESSI (@jessicah_o)

First of all I would like to express my apology to the victim and his family who suffered due to this incident. Even though the incident was caused by me, I have hurt a lot of people, including the victim, with my wrong actions, attitude, and lack of response from the time the incident occurred until now. I made them feel betrayed and angry. I regret it a thousand times, and a thousand more. I wish I could go back in time. If I had taken a picture with the victim, if I had been more proactive protecting the victim, if I had gone to the police station right away, if I had given a proper apology, then the victim would not have suffered like this. All of this is my responsibility. I know I can’t be forgiven with one message. However, I’ll try to correct my mistake and help the victim recover. It’s too late, but I apologize again. I did wrong.

— Jessi

In the comments, fans jumped to her defense, and many attempted to reassure her that it was not her fault.