K-pop star Jessi cleared of charges in case of fan assault
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K-pop star Jessi has been criticised for not doing enough to help a teenage fan who was assaulted in front of her.
PHOTO: UNNI/INSTAGRAM
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South Korea-based American singer-rapper Jessi has been cleared of all charges in the case of a fan assault that took place in front of her.
According to South Korean news outlets Yonhap and Korea Joongang Daily, Seoul police said they dropped the charges against the 35-year-old star, citing insufficient evidence of Jessi concealing and aiding the escape of a criminal.
South Korean broadcaster JTBC had put out a report in October about the incident that occurred on Sept 29.
A music producer known as Koala, who is one of Jessi’s collaborators, reportedly threatened and hit the fan. Another man, speculated to be part of Jessi’s entourage that day, was caught on closed circuit television footage rushing out later to beat up the fan. While Jessi initially tried to intervene, she quickly left the scene.
She later told the police that she did not know the assailant and had met him only for the first time that day, though she later acknowledged that he was an acquaintance of someone she knew.
Her attorney told South Korean broadcaster SBS on Nov 7 that Jessi deeply regrets the distress the incident caused the victim and said: “Jessi did not assist the perpetrator in fleeing the scene nor was she acquainted with the individual prior to the event.”
The police have issued an international arrest warrant for the assailant, whom Korea Joongang Daily said is a Taiwanese man. The man left South Korea three days after the incident. Koala, 36, has been indicted on assault charges and referred to the prosecution.
The incident has caused considerable damage to Jessi’s career. The Zoom (2022) singer’s contract was terminated by her agency DOD Entertainment after the assault came to light, just a month after she announced that she was joining the agency.
She has also suffered the ire of netizens, who felt she did not do enough to protect her fan, and received many malicious comments.
Jessi has apologised for the incident twice on her social media accounts.
She wrote on Oct 23: “If I had taken a picture, protected the victim more actively, gone straight to the police or apologised properly, the victim wouldn’t have suffered this much. This is all my fault.”
