Singer Seo In-young pushes back again on rumor she assaulted IU in a bathroom

Singer Seo In-young has once again denied a rumor that she assaulted fellow singer IU.

Seo appeared in a video published Wednesday on her YouTube channel, titled "The real reason Baek Ji-young disliked Seo In-young, revealed for the first time (+ waiting room incident, witness testimony)," in which she and singer Baek Ji-young swapped old stories.

Baek told Seo, "You're a strong personality and so am I, but when you think about it, neither of us has ever roughed up a junior."

That prompted Seo to bring up the old rumor that she had dragged IU into a bathroom and assaulted her. "Why on earth would I hit her?" she said, expressing frustration at the allegation.

Seo added, "IU and I weren't even close," suggesting the two had little enough contact that such an incident could never have occurred.

The rumor has come up on several broadcasts over the years. Its origins remain unclear, but it was publicly raised on the MBC entertainment program "Radio Star" in 2011.

IU appeared on that episode. When a host asked, "There's talk that you were rude to seniors, and that Seo In-young called you into a bathroom to discipline you," IU replied, "Where do people even hear these things? That never happened." She went on to address the claim about her manners, saying, "I've heard that about myself too — I think it's because I don't smile much. I had bad social anxiety, so early in my debut I couldn't bring myself to smile when greeting my sunbae. I was told many times that I should smile when saying hello."

Two years later, in 2013, Seo addressed the rumor on MBC's "Mureuppadosa." "I absolutely never called her into a bathroom," she said. "I swear I never dragged her in there, and back then I barely saw IU at all. We hardly spoke." She also explained, "At the time I was doing an entertainment show called 'Yeongunghogeol' with 12 women, and IU was just a very young kid — I had no reason to scold her."

Seo repeated her denial on broadcasts in 2021 and 2022 as well. "If I wanted to hit someone, I'd do it in the waiting room — why would I drag them to a bathroom?" she said. "I never took IU to a bathroom, and I never hit her."