THE BOYZ's Eric Apologizes For Not Wearing Mask While Out With Friends; Agency Warns It May Take Legal Action Against False Rumors

THE BOYZ’s Eric has apologized for not wearing a mask during a recent outing with friends.

On December 24, a video of Eric not wearing a mask at a bowling alley began circulating on online communities. Shortly afterwards, the idol posted an apology on THE BOYZ’s official fan cafe in which he confirmed that the video was from a November outing with two friends from high school and apologized for having violated South Korean mask requirements.

THE BOYZ’s agency Creker Entertainment also released a formal statement in which it apologized for Eric’s behavior, but warned that a maliciously edited version of the video had been posted online and that it was considering taking legal action against the spreading of false rumors.

Both Eric’s apology and Creker Entertainment’s statement can be found below.

Eric’s full post is as follows:

Hello, this is Eric.

First, I sincerely apologize for giving you cause for concern.

I’m also truly sorry to have to post this kind of letter here, in the space where I always receive love from The B [THE BOYZ’s fandom] and express my own, due to this shameful matter.

Due to my wrongdoing, I am posting this message in order to apologize to all of you.

Last month, I had dinner and went bowling with two friends from high school who will soon be enlisting in the military.

However, by taking my mask off in a public place, I ended up violating social-distancing restrictions.

From the beginning of this year, due to the [COVID-19 pandemic], we were unable to be together with The B, even in the happy moments that The B’s efforts made possible for us. The B must have been even more upset than THE BOYZ. In this moment, when not only The B but people all over the world are suffering, I should have worn a mask no matter what. Due to my thoughtless behavior, I am filled with shame and am sorry to The B, the members [of THE BOYZ], the employees of my agency, my family, and the many people who are working hard to overcome COVID-19.

I am so ashamed of myself for telling The B to wear masks and take good care of their health, for saying that I really hoped we could meet next year, while wishing for the situation to improve as quickly as possible.

Once again, I sincerely apologize for disappointing you and giving you cause for concern with this disgraceful matter.

The B are people who are very precious to me and for whom I am truly grateful. While constantly thinking of how precious you are for consistently supporting us, loving us, and understanding us, I will reflect on my wrongdoing, and I will not make this kind of mistake twice.

I learned how to express love after meeting The B, and the words, actions, and letters I show you are truly sincere and from my heart.

In the future, I will show even more sincerity and a better version of myself to The B, who give me endless trust and support, and I promise to become more mature through this incident.

Once again, I am sincerely sorry to The B, who must have felt disappointment and heartache because of my thoughtless behavior.

I will make sure to reflect deeply on my behavior, and I will be more careful and work hard so that I am able to show you only good things. I’m sorry.

Creker Entertainment’s full statement is as follows:

Hello, this is Creker Entertainment.

First, we apologize for giving you cause for concern in a situation when many people are facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

In a time when wearing masks should be mandatory due to COVID-19, Eric failed to abide by the rules.

He is currently reflecting deeply on his wrongdoing, and we also apologize for not having properly managed [our artist] even in his personal free time.

We have learned that the video from the bowling alley that is currently being spread was originally filmed in mid-November while [Eric] was with two male friends who were his high school classmates. One of the male friends he was with at the time filmed the video and posted it on social media, and we have confirmed that the video in question was then saved and edited by a different individual, who reprocessed it before posting it online.

Setting the above facts aside, this matter is clearly the fault of Eric and our company, and we will put even more effort into managing our artists in the future so that this kind of incident does not occur again.

Additionally, in this difficult time, we will do our utmost to follow social-distancing rules and COVID-19-related prevention guidelines even more strictly.

However, we hope that you will stop spreading photos or videos that could lead to different mistaken assumptions, and we ask that you refrain from speculation related [to those photos and videos].

We are currently gathering evidence and holding legal discussions about the production of false, malicious rumors, and we are informing you that we will be strengthening our artist-protection system and responding more aggressively than before to malicious comments, as well as the malicious creation and spreading of rumors.

Accordingly, we request that you keep in mind that we may take legal action in response to the posting or distribution of unconfirmed falsehoods and rumors.

Once again, we apologize for giving you cause for concern.

Thank you.

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