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| Actor Kim Dong-hee denied bullying allegations raised online. Courtesy of Netflix |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Actor Kim Dong-hee, who floated to fame with his roles in popular TV series "Extracurricular" and "Sky Castle," has denied the allegations that he bullied his classmates, including a disabled student, when he was in middle school.
The actor's agency Npio Entertainment said Monday that it will take legal action against the accuser.
"After checking the claim with the actor and school officials, we have come to a conclusion that it is false and he has nothing to do with bullying," the agency said in a statement. "The accuser made the false allegations online and deleted them three years ago, so we did not take legal action. But the person recently posted the same allegations."
The claim was posted on a popular online community Sunday, with screenshots of tweets and other social media posts by the actor's elementary and middle school alumni, who explained the alleged bullying.
"I hate to see that he became a celebrity and is now loved by many people," the accuser claimed. "It was almost a daily routine for him to beat and bully classmates.
"There was a disabled boy in his class when he was in 7th grade. (Kim) would make him play rock paper scissors and say the winner gets to slap the loser's face," it added. "The disabled kid of course lost… and Kim would slap his face."
This is the latest case of the snowballing bullying scandal involving many celebrities, including actors, singers and sports stars, with self-claimed bullying victims speaking up and demanding apologies.
Kim debuted in a popular web teen series "A-TEEN" in 2018. He became known to the public with a supporting role in the major-hit TV series "SKY Castle" the same year.
The actor has been taking lead roles in series such as "Itaewon Class" and "Extracurricular." He recently confirmed a role in his first film "Ghost" (direct translation).
