Former BEAST Members Accused Of Receiving Preferential Treatment, Agency Responds
On August 12th, SBS reported that the four former BEAST members Doojoon, Junhyung, Hyunseung and Gikwang received preferential treatment from Dongshin University, a private university located in the South Jeolla Province of Korea.
According to the news report, the former BEAST members had received special treatment in terms of attendance, scholarship and graduation.
So.. this is the news.
“On August 12th, SBS' news program ran a story revealing they(DJ,JH,HS and GK)may have also received a type of class attendance leniency that is only usually reserved for students working in civil service.”#하이라이트 #HIGHLIGHT
pic.twitter.com/W4V7IjyglN— MrsJoker891219 (@YongPDnim) August 12, 2018
The broadcast network provided a piece of evidence in support of the claim, a list of students working in civil service who were entitled to a class attendance leniency. In the list included the names of the four former BEAST members with an “X” or “O” beside them. According to an employee of the university, the names with an “X” indicated that they did not attend classes.
In response to the claims, Cube Entertainment has announced that they are in the process of confirming the facts as the employees who were responsible for BEAST were no longer employed at the agency.
“We are doing our best to confirm the facts in relation to BEAST. We have notified that it may take some time to make any confirmations as all the employees involved in the incident have left our company. We are doing our best to get a better understanding of the situation through the past employees who managed BEAST and will announce an official statement as soon as possible. Thank you.” ㅡ Cube Entertainment
Meanwhile, Highlight’s (currently consisting of former BEAST members Doojoon, Junhyung, Gikwang, Yoseob and Dongwoon) agency, Around Us Entertainment, has denied accusations and firmly stated that the reports were not true and supported their claim with a detailed explanation.
“As notified through the news, the former BEAST and current Highlight members Doojoon, Junhyung and Gikwang enrolled in Dongshin University at the same time in 2010. However, it is not true that they were enrolled illegally or that they did not attend school.”
Moreover, a former BEAST manager has raised his voice and claimed that he accompanied the members to school on multiple occasions and that the members even submitted their assignments dutifully.
“I’ve even went to the school with the members on multiple occasions. Although they did not attend all classes, they did attend and even took exams. They also diligently submitted class assignments.” ㅡ Former BEAST Manager
The manager continued to explain the story of how the members ended up enrolling in the university and confirmed that the rumors of their preferential treatment were not true.
“The controversy of their scholarsip arose back in 2011 or 2012 as well. At the time, Dongshin University stated that the scholarship was also a result of their contributions to the school as their models and was put to bed. While the members were preparing for admissions, they received a proposition from Dongshin University and that’s how they enrolled in the university.” ㅡ Former BEAST Manager
Despite the responses, the same news was reported on SBS again on the morning of August 13th.
Netizens have been expressing their disappointment in SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System), one of the largest television and radio network companies in Korea, who reported the news.
- “The manager, agency and Dongshin University denied the rumors but SBS continues to argue that it’s true. It shows their standards.”
- “Even after the manager confirmed that it was false, SBS reported that there were doubts again on their 12 o’clock news. SBS does not have a single care for the facts. Such a disappointment.”
