Girl group IVE’s agency Starship Entertainment has issued a formal apology after an employee reposted a NSFW deepfake of a member on its official Weibo account.
Fans were outraged: Starship’s official social media account reshared deepfake content from IVE members Jang Won Young and An Yujin.
One post in particular, maliciously targeted An Yujin, calling the member derogatory names, including a NSFW fan-created deepfake that sparked outrage.
The agency initially said the deepfake had been “accidentally” reshared by a social media manager in an attempt to report it.
Starship Entertainment issued a formal apology to the girl group in a statement on January 15.
The label reveals that the staff member responsible has been subjected to “rigorous” disciplinary action and removed from all related duties, and that the company will pursue legal action in the future against actors who spread false and defamatory information.
Read the full statement below:
We at Starship Entertainment would like to offer our sincere apologies to our artist, An Yujin, and her fans for the unfortunate incident that occurred on January 9th.
We deeply regret the inconvenience caused by the mishandling of a China-based social media account by a member of our staff. After carefully reviewing the situation, we have determined that the incident was the result of an error in our internal protocols.
As a corrective measure, the staff member involved was reassigned from all related responsibilities and the most stringent disciplinary actions were taken. Additionally, we are actively improving and refining our internal processes to ensure similar incidents do not happen again.
We deeply regret the harm caused to An Yujin and are committed to addressing the harm suffered as a result of this incident. To protect all parties involved, we are also taking legal action against individuals who spread false information or engage in defamatory behavior.
Once again, we sincerely apologize to all fans for the disappointment and concern this incident has caused. Going forward, we will dedicate ourselves to learning from this experience and growing as a more responsible and mature company. We will continue to work diligently to restore your trust and ensure that such an incident does not happen again.
Thank you,
Entertainment on the spaceship
