Protested By Fans, Agency Apologizes After Uploading Deepfake Member IVE Post

An Yujin (Starship Entertainment)

JAKARTA - Starship Entertainment released an apology to fans after their latest post drew protests from IVE fans.

The official Weibo account from Starship has drawn controversy after re-uploading deepfake content from two IVE members, Jang Won Young and An Yu Jin. The content also highlighted An Yu Jin with a negative goal, causing anger from fans.

Wednesday, January 15, Starship Entertainment released an official statement in English. They apologized to An Yu Jin and fans for the mistake.

"We at Starship Entertainment, would like to apologize to our artist, AN YUJIN, and his fans for the incident that occurred on January 9. We regret the interactions that occurred on social media accounts from China that were managed by our staff," said Starship.

The staff who carried out the interaction were relieved of their duties in managing Starship social media. They also ensure that the procedure is in accordance with company regulations.

"We deeply regret the loss to YUJIN, and we are committed to seeing the losses that occurred due to this incident," he said.

"To keep all parties concerned, we are also taking legal action regarding individuals who upload false information or are involved in these actions," the agency continued.

The agency ended the statement by insisting they would be careful and continue to monitor so that incidents like this do not happen again in the future.