On Friday, November 29, the K-pop group’s agency, 143 Entertainment, officially confirmed the news of the teen singer’s exit. The South Korean record label, founded by producer Digital Masta, is home to beloved third-generation K-pop boy group iKON. Moving forward, newbie act MADEIN will continue as a six-member band with Mashiro, MiU, Suhye, Yesio, Serina, and Nagomi.

The label stated, “We are sad to inform you that member Gayoon will be leaving the team today. Since debuting with MADEIN in September, Gaeun has made significant efforts to contribute to the group’s activities. However, due to conflicting personal circumstances, he has found it difficult to continue participating in team activities, leading to his decision to leave the group.

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Gayoon was previously placed on temporary break following reports of sexual harassment.

This unfortunate revelation comes just weeks after the company announced the fifth-generation K-pop singer was on temporary hiatus due to health reasons on November 11.

Shortly after, the former girl group member cleared her Instagram account by deleting all posts and erasing the name MADEIN from her profile. Her social media activity, including unfollowing agency accounts, gave rise to heavy speculation, especially in light of recent rumors that she was the victim of the agency’s CEO’s alleged inappropriate advances.

The provocative report broke cover through JTBC’s ‘Crime Chief’ on November 22. Initially, neither Maiden’s nor Gyun’s names were included in the broadcast. Exposing a recorded conversation, the current affairs program simply highlighted that a member of a multinational girl group (identified as ‘A’) debuted in September and co-founded the company. And the CEO was accused of sexual harassment.

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MADEIN’s agency denies sexual harassment allegations

143 Entertainment’s latest official announcement regarding Gayoon’s departure from Maiden also strongly denied the allegations and stated that “recent rumors regarding sexual harassment allegations are false.” The company further said that they have “clear and sufficient evidence to prove the falsehood of these claims.”

At the end of the statement fans were informed that all previously postponed group shows would go ahead as planned. MADEIN’s agency also asked for continued warm support and encouragement for both “Gyun” and the girl group.

The company may have strongly rejected the huge allegations. However, it is difficult to ignore the fact that at the time of the alleged instances (October) cited in the JTBC report, Geun was under age. She turned 19 earlier this month.

(English translation: Allkpop)