Seungri Scandal: Fans Decry YG Entertainment’s Alleged Favoritism; 550,000+ Sign Petition to Bring Back iKON’s B.I

Since the Burning Sun investigation was opened in March, Seungri has been accused of a slew of crimes. But his face can still be found in the YG Entertainment official website, which some fans think is not fair considering how fast the agency canceled B.I’s contract with them.

B.I, whose real name is Kim Han Bin, is the recent K-Pop artist to retire after facing a drug-related scandal. He announced his retirement from the industry and left his group iKON earlier this week. Dispatch (via Soompi) obtained a copy of his phone conversation while reportedly attempting to purchase the hallucinogenic drug LSD in 2016.

The iKON band leader admitted to taking an interest in LSD but added that he did not go through with it after getting “too scared.” YG immediately seconded B.I’s statement and confirmed it had terminated his contract. Shortly after, iKON’s profile page on YG’s website no longer bear any sign of B.I — something that is not the case for Seungri. The police have yet to investigate this matter, and there is no chance to confirm at this point whether he did take the drugs other than his statement this week.

Many fans think ultimate retirement is too big of a punishment for what B.I did. As of this writing, over 550,000 fans have signed an online petition on Change.org insisting that B.I did not have to leave the industry altogether while some pointed out YG’s purported unfair treatment of B.I compared to Seungri.

One fan who signed the petition commented that the agency is protecting a “predator” referring to Seungri. Many others said it was “unfair” how YG immediately canceled B.I’s contract.

The so-called “South Korea’s Great Gatsby,” who is Lee Seung Hyun in real life, has been entangled with several scandals since March. The court denied the prosecution’s petition to arrest Seungri last month, but he has been accused of embezzlement, dealing with prostitutes, and participating in lewd chat rooms where videos of unsuspecting women in sexual acts are circulated. Upon checking, Seungri’s face still appears in YG’s profile page for BIGBANG.