The agency recently issued a formal apology.
On January 15, KST, Entertainment on the spaceship (Starship below) has issued a formal apology for republishing a questionable post on the matter IVE‘S Yujin ON Weibo.
The incident occurred on January 9, KST, when fans discovered the company’s official Weibo account reposting a post containing deepfake images of Yujin and calling her a “sl*t.” After fan outrage, Starship Entertainment released a statement saying the update had been mistakenly reposted by a staff member while attempting to report malicious posts.
We would like to update on the incident that happened today on Starship Entertainment’s Weibo. The incident occurred while our staff was reporting malicious posts, and the post has since been deleted. We would like to sincerely apologize to the artist and fans who may have been affected by this incident. We will work to better manage our account, to prevent similar errors from happening again. – Entertainment on the spaceship
The explanation, however, barely satisfied fans, who were calling for more accountability. In response to the persistent backlash, Starship released a new statement on January 15, informing fans that the staff member responsible for the debacle was addressing “the most severe disciplinary measures.”
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. – Entertainment on the spaceship
The statement, however, only fueled further criticism against the label. Netizens felt that the consequences faced by the staff member were inappropriate and chastised Starship for not treating the matter with the seriousness it deserved.
- “They must have gone crazy.”
- “Are they crazy?”
- “Huh?? Am I reading this right?”
- “Is this something that should just be let go with internal disciplinary action?”
- “These assholes.”
- [comment deleted]
- “This is crazy. It wasn’t a simple mistake. It’s disgusting and terrifying that I have to continue working with someone like that.
