K-pop singer accused of cheating fan of money, agency responds

K-pop singer, Hyeme, formerly of girl group Black Swan is being sued by a male fan who claimed that she had manipulated him into giving her approximately 50 million won (S$60,400).

The man filed a complaint against Hyeme on Oct 26, according to Korean entertainment site Dispatch on Monday (Nov 9).

After meeting through social media in December 2018, Hyeme and the man exchanged direct messages on Instagram before meeting in person. Hyeme later asked him to loan her 5 million won in April 2019, saying that she needed the money due to a family problem.

She reportedly went on to ask for more money and he ended up paying for Hyeme’s apartment so she could move out of the group’s dorm, as well as her living expenses. She also racked up more than 12.8 million won on the credit card that he gave her.

The man, who is in his 30s, told Dispatch that there was no physical relationship between them and that he had hoped to help her out with her money issues so she could focus on her music.

However, he got angry when he found out that she had been seeing other men in the apartment he was paying for. He asked Hyeme to repay the initial 5 million won loan and although she agreed to, she then ghosted him, left the apartment and changed her phone number.

DR Music, the agency behind Black Swan, issued a statement with regards to the case on Nov 10, according to soompi.com. In the statement, Hyeme was referred to as a former member of the group and that she had appointed the agency’s legal advisor to take legal action against the man for intimidation, sexual harassment and defamation.

The singer admitted through DR Music’s statement that she had met the fan but that she had to keep avoiding him because he had requested for sex. She added that she had borrowed the 5 million won but that the other things were given voluntarily, including the credit card, and that she did not agree to his requests for sex.

She also said that she had expressed her intention to return the 5 million won loan after November and that she avoided contact because she was scared of his persistent requests for sex. She added that with the group promotion going on with Black Swan, she wouldn’t have been able to disappear anyway. She also said she had proof that she wasn’t meeting other men in her apartment.

DR Music stated that Hyeme is no longer with the agency and her contract ended on Nov 7 but that they were helping her out because the report was tarnishing a project that they had launched after so much effort.

They also confirmed that Black Swan is temporarily halting its official activities.