K-pop singer Jessi questioned by police after associate allegedly assaulted fan in Seoul

Singer-rapper Jessi has been questioned by South Korean police after CCTV footage emerged of an alleged member of her entourage assaulting a fan.

The 35-year-old Korean-American appeared at a police station in Gangnam past Wednesday (Oct 16) night.

There, she briefly addressed the press: "I hope they find the perpetrator soon, I hope he gets punished. I will tell the police everything I know as it happened.

"That day was the first time I met the assailant."

According to The Korea Economic Daily, Jessi declined to comment on why she did not react or intervene during the assault.

The CCTV footage was initially broadcast on JTBC, who reported that the alleged victim was an 18-year-old who had spotted Jessi and her associates while walking to a convenience store in Apgujeong.

The fan approached them asking to take a photo with Jessi, who declined and apologised.

The video also shows a man in Jessi's group swearing at the teen in English and, despite the latter apologising and moving away, punching and kicking him.

Jessi can be seen moving away from the group and observing from a distance as another woman tries to separate the attacker and the fan.

The group allegedly left the scene as the teen tried to get police involved, and reportedly told the police later that they did not know the fan when they caught up to them.

JTBC also reported that the victim's mother had visited Jessi's agency and was told that the alleged perpetrator was a Chinese man who was friends with another man in the group, Jessi's producer Koala.

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Jessi 'caught off guard'

In an Instagram post on Oct 12, Jessi discussed the incident — echoing the same comments she made to the media at the police station — and also explained why she did not intervene.

 "The fan was suddenly assaulted by someone whom I met for the first time that day," she wrote. "The situation escalated so quickly that I was also caught off guard and unable to properly handle it or take care of the fan."

She added that she felt "a great sense of responsibility for [her] failure to intervene properly" and wrote that she and her agency were in contact with the victim and his family to help them "find and bring the perpetrator to justice".

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However, netizens were dissatisfied with her response.

"If you see a stranger getting assaulted on the street, at the very least, you’d call the police," an anonymous user on online forum Theqoo wrote. "But a fan came up to her, got beaten, and she just went off to drink?"

Another wrote: "Even if the assailant wasn’t her friend personally, he was still in her group. She should’ve intervened or at least helped afterwards.'

Meanwhile, the victim told JTBC that Jessi's apology did not feel "genuine" while his mother did not believe that Jessi had only just met the perpetrator.

Terminating contract with agency

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Amidst the backlash, Jessi and her agency DOD Entertainment have parted ways, less than a month since she joined them and set up the sub-label Unni under the agency.

"At Jessi's request, it has been decided that our exclusive contract with her will be terminated as of Oct 18, 2024," they said in a statement.

"Although it was a short time, we would like to express our gratitude to Jessi for being with us and we sincerely support her future activities."

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drimac@asiaone.com