"IU is Chinese," "she is an agent of Chinese capital." Malicious comments directed at singer and actress IU (real name Lee Ji-eun) crossed the line, even producing absurd malicious rumors. With the malicious rumors spreading uncontrollably to the point that a U.S. court was asked for a name check, everyone is urging IU's agency to take a tough response.
On the 20th it was widely reported that IU had filed for discovery in a U.S. court to identify one malicious commenter. The respondent was the global social media platform Meta (META). In this regard, a representative of IU's agency EDAM Entertainment (EDAM) told OSEN, "It is true that we filed for discovery against Meta in a U.S. court to obtain the identity of the commenter who spread malicious rumors about IU," expressing the official position and acknowledging this.
IU being harassed by malicious commenters is not new. In particular, IU's side has won meaningful judicial rulings against multiple malicious commenters. For example, in 2024 a commenter who raised plagiarism allegations was found liable for defamation and ordered to pay 30 million won in damages, and last year criminal complaints and civil lawsuits were filed against 96 commenters, resulting in seven fines, one order to complete a sexual violence treatment program, three deferred prosecutions conditioned on education, and one suspended prison sentence with protective supervision.
Although IU's lawsuits against malicious commenters are not new, what has drawn attention is that the malicious rumors spread by commenter A, who is the target of the identity inquiry, are particularly absurd and crossed the line. For example, A spread the already-punished plagiarism allegation against IU as well as the absurd malicious rumors that IU's nationality is "Chinese" or that she is an "agent of Chinese capital." This was entangled with criticism of the work after a controversy over historical distortion emerged around the MBC drama Perfect Crown, in which IU appeared in the first half of the year, producing more malicious comments.
A even raised allegations of "deceased-person marketing" pointing to times when IU mentioned her former close friends — singer and actress the late Sulli, SHINee member Jonghyun, and KARA member Goo Hara. These malicious rumors, which included insults toward the deceased as well as IU, were repeatedly raised rather than one-off incidents, causing not only IU but also fans of the late figures to cringe.
In addition, there were false claims belittling IU's achievements overseas, allegations of media control and public opinion manipulation, and even claims that singer-songwriter IU used lyrics to allude to national tragedies. IU's side said A publicly posted a total of 52 false posts from March to October last year. Therefore, they requested the local court to obtain identity information that could identify the subscriber — such as name, address, phone number, email address, and login IP — based on the A account held by Meta.
Accounts spreading "fake news" that forward false information like malicious rumors without even checking them are rampant. No matter how absurd the malicious rumors, they have reached a point where they can no longer be ignored. What punishment will the author of the outrageous rumors against IU receive? Attention is focused on IU's camp, which has maintained a policy of "no leniency, tough response."
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]