Big Bang’s Seungri Quits Music After Being Charged With Supplying Prostitutes
Before BTS, BLACKPINK, and the current wave of K-pop superstars started to take over, there was Big Bang. Big Bang, the visually flamboyant and musically innovative South Korean boy band, found massive fame in Asia and around the world in the early years of the decades, releasing a string of massive hits with wild, surreal big-budget videos. But in the past few years, most of the five members of Big Bang have signed on for their compulsory South Korean military service. In 2017, group member T.O.P. was treated after overdosing on anti-anxiety pills. And now Seungri, another member of the group, has been charged with supplying prostitutes, and he’s also announced that he’s leaving show business.
Variety reports that the 28-year-old Seungri, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, announced today that he will immediately retire from music to protect the reputations of Big Bang and of YG Entertainment, the massive entertainment conglomerate that put Big Bang together. This comes a day after a police raid of a Seoul nightclub.
Until recently, Seungri co-owned a Seoul nightclub called Burning Sun. Police have been investigating the club in recent months after video of an assault at the club was posted online. Police are alleging that club staff have supplied drugs to patrons and recruited sex workers for foreign investors and VIP clients. Seungri denies the charges against him, which carry a possible three-year prison sentence.
Variety also reports that YG Entertainment has been shredding a whole lot of paper and that shares in the entertainment company fell 14% after the charges against Seungri came out.