On Wednesday, August 28, the Filipino Entertainment agency, Sparkle GMA announced their recent exclusive contract with Kim Ji-soo, a South Korean actor. The actor was embroiled in a controversy in 2021 with allegations of bullying, s”xual harassment, and assault. Following the same, the actor was removed from several of the projects he was taking part in then.

Soon after this controversy, Kim Ji-soo put a pause in his career and enlisted in the military for his mandatory service. He returned to the industry in 2023 and released a vlog titled, The End of Tunnel, on his YouTube channel called Jisoo Road. The vlog explained his desire to re-enter the industry.

However, the response from the South Korean audience and other K-drama fans has been cold since the idol allegedly admitted to these allegations. In the vlog, he stated he had cleared things with the accusors and his past friends, and they have allegedly forgiven the actor for his actions.

https://x.com/i/status/1828701434893713468

Therefore, when Sparkle GMA announced that they recently signed a contract with Kim Ji-soo, many netizens were not happy with the actor’s re- entrance into the industry. They heavily criticized the agency for giving an alleged abuser a platform to be a public figure again and also called out the actor for wanting to enter the industry again. Here are a few reactions from the netizens:

“he hates southeast asians and is a big bully why are we giving him clout”

“every time you give a bully a platform, letting them be on television, you are making the victims revisit the trauma they inflicted on them” added another netizen on X

Other comments on the internet echoed the same sentiments.

“yall proud to give jobs to abusers? okay gma” stated a netizen on X

“GMA constantly proving they’re LOW TIER management. YIKES.” added another X user

“Not a flex. He was cancelled in Korea, so why are we picking up their trash? I used to like him, but the allegations made against him are horrible.” stated a netizen on X

All you need to know about the allegations against the South Korean actor, Kim Ji-soo

In March 2021, a netizen posted a confession on the internet accusing the South Korean actor, Kim Ji-soon of s*xual harassment, abuse, and bullying during his school years. While the issue didn’t receive much response from the actor during the time of the incident, his agency KeyEast terminated their contract with him and he subsequently left for the military.
The actor also released a handwritten apology, partiv admitting to the accusations made against him. When he returned, Kim Ji-soo made an update regarding the issue through an exclusive interview with Sports Chosun. He stated that he met with the accusors and sorted things with them:

“I met with “A” and talked with him for a long time. He thought I ostracized him from the other students because I was close with “B,” a student who was involved in the gift certificate theft. It’s true I was close with “B” at that time. So I think “A” thought I was involved in the incident.”

His statement continued,

“We talked about the misunderstandings and we resolved the issue, that I was not involved. It was not something I did, but I apologized because I was close to “B.” I would like to once again apologize to “A” and other school friends that I hurt.”