[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

A new wave of malicious rumors targeting singer and actor IU has begun spreading online.

A user operating under the name "Free Democracy Youth" posted on SNS on Tuesday claiming to have been sued by IU for defamation.

The account juxtaposed the location of Kakao's headquarters, a person surnamed Heo who went missing in Jeju in 2020, a purple tracksuit IU wore on the JTBC variety program "Hyorie's Minbak," and her 2024 song "Shh...," alleging that Heo was "a person who had been exposing IU online."

The post drew thousands of likes as it spread across social media.

No objective evidence supports the claims. Actor Tang Wei, who appeared in the "Shh..." music video, said through her agency that she and IU share "a very interesting relationship where IU plays both my mother and my friend." IU said, "The person I dealt with in my verse was my mother," adding that she "wanted to start with a mother's story." There is no basis for the claim that Tang Wei portrayed Heo in the video.

The "same outfit" claim also falls apart chronologically. The episode of "Hyorie's Minbak" in which IU wore the purple Nerdy tracksuit aired in 2017, while Heo went missing in December 2020. The purple clothing shown in the post was from an old identification photo, not from the time of the disappearance, and there is no evidence the two garments are the same product.

Meanwhile, IU has continued to pursue legal action against the persistent spread of false information and malicious posts.

In February, IU announced she had filed civil and criminal suits against 96 people who had written malicious posts about her. Her agency said a person who spread false rumors about IU — including allegations that she was a spy — was sentenced to a fine of 5 million won ($3,620), while a person who raised false plagiarism allegations and filed a copyright infringement complaint against her was ordered to pay 30 million won in damages.

The agency added that it had filed a civil damages lawsuit against users who spread false information and made defamatory posts about IU on overseas internet threads, and that it was in the process of filing a disclosure request with a US court to identify those users.


min3654@heraldcorp.com