GFRIEND’s agency Source Music has released an apology after Sowon posted controversial photos on social media.
On January 31, 2021, Sowon uploaded photos of herself posing with a mannequin that was dressed in what has been described as a Nazi uniform.
The photos have since been deleted, and on February 1 GFRIEND’s agency issued an official apology.
The statement from Source Music reads as follows:
Hello, this is Source Music.
We offer our deepest apologies for the controversy caused by our artist GFRIEND’s behind-the-scenes video for the comeback show and the pictures uploaded by Sowon on social media.
In November of last year, an outsourced production company rented a café in Paju to film a video for the new album’s comeback show. In addition to filming for the behind-the-scenes video on the set, our staff also took several photos to post on the artist’s social media accounts.
On the day of filming, the department responsible for checking the set was unaware of the problem with the mannequin’s attire. Although internal inspection and discussions were conducted before uploading the behind-the-scenes video (December 12) and photos (January 31), they were posted without awareness of the issue.
We apologize for not checking the filming site for inappropriate props in advance, for not thoroughly inspecting the content during the filming and uploading process, and for not paying closer attention to historical facts and societal issues. We sincerely apologize to everyone who felt uncomfortable due to the aforementioned video and photos.
The problematic portion of the video has been corrected as of now. The artist also was very surprised after becoming aware of the meaning of the content of the photos and deleted them immediately, and she feels deeply responsible and heartbroken over uploading such photos.
We will keep in mind the fact that the content that we produce and share affects many people and will pay even closer attention to social issues in the future.
We sincerely apologize once again to those who were hurt by the video and photos.
