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Submitted by: Sidney Aquino
For Kpop stars, fame comes with a heavy price. Reaching ultimate stardom has its own consequences. Inevitable issues are bound to arise as the crowd is always keeping an eye on you. Onew from the Kpop boy group, SHINee, is no exception.
Shawols (SHINee fans) were deeply alarmed with the sexual harassment case of SHINee Onew this early August. According to the police, Onew was accused of touching a specific part of a woman’s body three times while intoxicated at a club in Gangnam on August 2 at around 7:10am K.S.T. (Korean Standard Time).
During a five-hour investigation, Onew doesn’t seem to remember anything that happened. A credible witness testified that he can’t stand properly so he grabbed the woman’s leg for support.
Check out how his fandom reacted with this shocking news!
We are no fool. We decided to stand with him because he deserves it. He made us better persons and now we can't let him fall. #onew
— MVP 온유 Chile (@MVPChile) August 12, 2017
Everyone keep mentioning how onew was damn drunk. But no one mentioned that that woman is damn drunk until she didn't know who touch her
— ALEXIS (@091291Alex) August 14, 2017
Note that all parties acknowledged it was a mistake but it was even Onew and his lawyer that pushed for further investigation
— visual director nat (@bumkeykPD) August 12, 2017
Forever Shawol, i'm silently supporting SHINee Onew.
Forever #ot5
— Dasom (다솜) (@Its_MaggieChoi) August 15, 2017
If you think I'll stop loving Onew bc of this unintentional vague accusations to him, ur wrong. I've seen more than enough kindness of him. pic.twitter.com/0sOh1Xu7o1
— 🐇 (@ONTAENSE) August 12, 2017
Here is what we're not gonna do
-joke about sexual assault
-make assumptions that onew did/didnt do it
-act like we know the whole story— #ForeverRise (@seocults) August 12, 2017
Onew is the last person I would expect to do something like that
Innocent until proven guilty— Celeste #귀를 기울이면 (@cel_cellec) August 12, 2017
I always wondered how long Shinee would stay problem-free… I hope this Onew thing is just a misunderstanding or false
— 🌸🎀💗 (@JenaynayX) August 12, 2017
I mean, it's Onew we are talking about. I cannot read his name and "sexual harrasment" in the same phrase. I cannot believe it. Shock.
— LI5HT ✨ HI5HLI5HT (@KasumiUmi) August 12, 2017
Onew has always been a nice man but everytime he had scandals, they are always serious like smoking and sexual harrasment accusation 🙁
— Shabrina Ramsky (@ekyology) August 12, 2017
Eventually, SM Entertainment announced that the woman dropped charges as she admittedly said that it was something that can happen under the influence of alcohol.
SME apologized to SHINee fans for the news about the incident.
However, a police source commented, “The victim has received additional damage as her personal information has been revealed because of press coverage. She signed the form to drop charges due to SM’s request, but she testified that there is no change in the fact that the sexual harassment occurred.”
Thus this sexual harassment case is going to be forwarded to prosecution.