[UPDATED]
Yoon Seobin, a JYP Entertainment trainee gaining spotlight on Mnet‘s TV show PRODUCE X 101 as the current #1 spot winner, is now facing rumors that he was an infamous school bully in his earlier days. As soon as the first episode of the program aired on May 3, 2019, an anonymous writer posted online what he/she knows about Yoon Seobin’s history.
This anonymous writer claimed he/she knew Yoon Seobin since as early as his elementary and middle school days. The writer shared yearbook pictures of a “Yoon Byung Hwi” and claimed that it was Yoon Seobin’s real name prior to changing it.
As soon as this post went viral on social media platforms, other alleged pictures of Yoon Seobin’s past began to surface. These pictures captured a male student in school uniform engaging in underage smoking and drinking.
The post, now deleted, pointed out that Yoon Seobin was a “일진 (il-jin, delinquent / bully)”, and voiced a tremendous amount of concern. The post claimed, “I’m writing this because… I wouldn’t want someone like him to succeed, become self-absorbed, then turn into someone like Seungri.”
Translations: “I feel like you will only believe me with pictures, so here are his elementary and middle school yearbook photos. He changed his name to Yoon Seobin, but his name used to be Yoon Byung Hwi. I’m sharing this because Yoon Byung Hwi was an infamous ‘iljin’ in the City of Gwangju. Everyone who is my age probably knows about him. He was a known bully since his middle school days. It was a part of his daily life to pick on other students. A lot of students I know were bullied by him. I’ve seen it happen all the time. He deleted his Facebook account and ghosted everyone for years… before showing up on TV like this. I wouldn’t want someone like him to succeed, become self-absorbed, then turn into someone like Seungri. So that’s why I’m writing this. If this isn’t true, I’m ready to be sued. Sorry if I make no sense.”
Since the rumor, the PRODUCE X 101 fan page shared a statement formally requesting Yoon Seobin’s withdrawal from the program. The statement explains, “Yoon Seobin would not be fit to be a part of the program that is ‘of the national producers, by the national producers, for the national producers’ to discover potential global K-Pop stars.”
Translations: “[Official Request to Remove] The ‘PRODUCE X 101 Gallery’, a community for Mnet’s audition program PRODUCE X 101, is releasing this official request to remove trainee Yoon Seobin from the show, after hearing the disappointing news of his history of being a bully. On May 5, Yoon Seobin’s yearbook pictures went viral on online communities. An anonymous writer shared allegations of Yoon Seobin having been a delinquent in his neighborhood and bullied his fellow classmates. Other pictures of him cursing on Facebook and smoking in his school uniform were shared. This shows that Yoon Seobin would not be fit to be a part of the program that is ‘of the national producers, by the national producers, for the national producers’ to discover potential global K-Pop stars. It could have been a simple “stupid mistake” by a teenager growing up. But if there are victims of his actions, they are forever traumatized because of him. Therefore, we of PRODUCE X 101 Gallery request of PRODUCE X 101’s creators to immediately remove Yoon Seobin from the program.”
JYP are currently checking the authenticity of the rumors about Yoon Seobin’s past. MNET has personally reached out JYP and the staff team of PDX101 is checking about the issue as well. Once Mnet will have a report from JYP they will publish it!
Male trainee Yoon Seo Bin of Mnet’s idol survival seires ‘Produce X 101’ has officially been removed from the program, JYP Entertainment announced on May 8. Meanwhile, Yoon Seo Bin’s latest rank based on netizen votes after last week’s airing of ‘Produce X 101’ was #12.