Male Trainees Including "Produce 101 Season 2" Participants Sue CEO For Sexual Harassment

Six male trainees of a K-pop agency that participated in “Produce 101 Season 2” filed a complaint against the female head of their agency on charges of sexual harassment.

On January 29, they told media outlet YTN Star, “On January 18, we submitted a lawsuit to the Seoul Central District Public Prosecutors’ Office to complain about the representative of the company (referred to as “A”) and the wife of her younger brother who is also an investor in her company (referred to as “B”) for violating the Act on Sexual Crime Violence.”

10 trainees from the agency, including the six plaintiffs, were in Japan for about one month to hold performances. After they concluded their activities, the trainees held a group dinner at a restaurant in Tokyo on September 28, 2018. The complaint said the trainees suffered sexual harassment during this meeting.

In the lawsuit, the trainees claimed, “At the time, ‘A’ and ‘B’ molested some trainees by touching their body parts, which led to sexual humiliation and personal humiliation.”

Among the plaintiffs were trainees who had been in “Produce 101 Season 2.” Two minors, who were not victims themselves, have been confirmed to be among the trainees who attended the dinner.

The plaintiffs’ legal representative said, “The defendants ‘A’ and ‘B,’ as the head of the company and the wife of the investor, can exert strong influence over the plaintiffs. Therefore, the defendants abused the plaintiffs’ free will by using their status and authority to sexually molest them.”

The legal representative added, “The trainees, including the victims and minors, are receiving psychiatric treatment. Because they were afraid of secondary damage, they sent a certification of contents to their management company, chairman and CEO, and applied for the suspension of their contract to the Seoul Central District Court.”

Both ‘A’ and ‘B’ have denied the charges. Their lawyer stated, “The charges are not true, and we will prove the charges through legal procedures.”

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