Can I ask you something? I just wanted to say I don't blame you for still supporting Seungri and ot5. I think you're being more honest and have more integrity than a lot of other people. But I'm genuinely curious what you think about the Seungri scandal? Do you think he's just a scapegoat for someone more powerful? Or what? What's your opinion on this?
Dear Anon, I’ve been mulling over how to best answer your ask because this is such a serious and sensitive topic. This is someone’s life we’re talking about. And there are very serious accusations being (not so lightly) tossed around by the public and the media.
So let me start with supporting Seungri and ot5. Because it’s not so black and white or as simple as supporting Ri or supporting ot5. This is a much deeper issue for me. I know I’ve said this before but it’s worth repeating. This issue is about someone’s basic human right to the presumption of innocence. To see people on this site and others stating “fuck innocent until proven guilty” and “I just know that he’s guilty” is not only disappointing but horrifying. Who are these people who think they can select who gets to have that right? Do they even understand the implications of those statements? I want anyone who has uttered those statements or something in a similar vein to include the name of someone they love dearly in there and let me know if they still feel the same way about the presumption of innocence.
I’ve also mentioned before that I am waiting for a final verdict. Because we don’t have all the information yet. No one does. Not even the police. And let’s face it the media has been less than forthcoming in their reporting. They’ve altered chats, left information out, and used Seungri’s name and photo as clickbait in articles that have nothing to do with him. And now we find out that 200 journalists, producers, and other media personnel were involved in a group chat where they requested and shared footage of the women who are the assault victims. Yet people will still blindly believe everything the media tells them. Even more concerning is that very few people seem to care about this group chat.
Do I think Seungri is a scapegoat for someone more powerful? This is a really hard question to answer because we don’t have all the information yet and there are so many intertwining parts to this issue. Is he the scapegoat to cover up Jang Ja Yeon’s death? There are rumors involving a Chosun executive and Jang Ja Yeon. Then there’s the former Burning Sun employee who said he would take everyone down using Seungri’s name. Is it a little bit of both? Tbh, I don’t know. I don’t know if we will ever know the truth about that. So what can we believe? What do I believe?
It’s been four months and Seungri has been investigated 17 times by the police. And they still don’t have enough for an arrest warrant. According to the police, there are 4 charges being filed against Seungri – prostitution, embezzlement, distribution of illegal material, and violation of the food sanitation law. Let’s look at each of these. The police have been trying to pin a prostitution charge on Seungri any way they can. From prostitution at his birthday party (where guests said the sex was consensual) to prostitution at the Gatsby Fantastic Festival (where Japanese investors have flatly denied that they took part in such activities and where the police refuse to hear testimony from them). I personally don’t have an issue with prostitution (as long as it is consensual) and I’ve noticed that some of the same people who are up in arms about the alleged prostitutes are also the same people who have posts on their blogs supporting sex workers. What do they think prostitutes are? And for those who believe Seungri sold women or young girls please provide your official police source for that information. So that brings us to embezzlement. The police are trying to claim that Seungri misappropriated funds from his own club, Monkey Museum. Those funds were used to retain a lawyer for a dj who worked at the club. The courts have upheld that there is no criminal liability if payment of lawyer’s fees are made to promote the company’s interests. Police also have tried to claim that money was funneled to Yuri Holdings by Burning Sun. That payment was for the brand use of the name Monkey Museum. Next is the charge of distribution of illegal material. Let’s just get this out of the way – Seungri was NOT in the molka gc. The charge of distribution of illegal materials stems over a photo he shared in a completely different gc of a partially clothed woman. The photo was not taken by Seungri and the woman was photographed with her consent. Lastly, we have the charge of violation of the food sanitation law. This charge was about Monkey Museum being registered as a restaurant. The fine for that charge has already been paid and is no longer relevant. All other allegations against Seungri (collusion, drug use, the police costume, etc.) have either been dropped or it was concluded that Seungri was not guilty.
I know someone is going to say that he knew what the others were doing. And I ask you how do you know that he knew what was going on in another chat that he wasn’t part of? Because of the 20 second video JJY posted in the business chat that Seungri told him to stop sending? How do you know Ri knew what that video was? If you opened a video and recognized your friend having sex would you continue to watch it? I’m guessing not. Would you automatically assume it was taken without consent? Would you ask? For all those who say he knew what his friends were doing, I ask you this question… tell me right now what the third conversation your mom (or sister, or dad, or bff, etc.) had yesterday was. Who was it with and what was the conversation about? I bet you can’t. These are people who are close to you and you probably don’t know. Yet people assume Seungri knows everything his friends and associates do.
You wanted to know what I think about the Seungri scandal. I’m afraid I don’t have all the answers because I don’t have all of the information. The investigation is still ongoing. And Seungri’s lawyer has said that we will hear Seungri’s side of all of this once the investigation is complete. I will continue to wait for all of the information to come in and to also hear Seungri’s side. At this point in the investigation though it seems to me that Seungri is being used as the face of this scandal because of his fame. Those who have actually been arrested are not getting nearly as much attention as Seungri has. You have to ask yourself why that is. Seungri is being tried by the media and public in a kangaroo court. I hope in the end justice will prevail and the victims will not be forgotten in all of this. I hope Seungri will be investigated fairly and that the facts will be reported accurately. I hope that the right people are punished for what they have done because punishing the wrong people won’t help the victims at all.
If anyone has any questions about something I’ve said, please ask me. Asking is always better than assuming.
