KCPA 01

Chapter 01

“I am very grateful for that phone call.”

On October 5, 2011, relevant media reported that BigBang leader G-Dragon had been indicted by the prosecution on charges of smoking marijuana, with a deferred prosecution ruling. According to the person in charge, G-Dragon had smoked marijuana during a tour stop in Japan in mid-May, and a hair follicle test conducted in July came back positive.

As soon as the news was released, the internet erupted in waves of heated discussion…

*’This can’t be real, right? It’s just irresponsible media making things up again, right?’*

*’They even gave a specific time, so it doesn’t seem fake.’*

*’It’s strange, I’m not surprised at all to see news like this!’*

*’I knew it would turn out like this, just from looking at his on-stage image.’*

*’People like that should just leave BigBang!’*

*’Ah, fuck it, drug users should all go to hell!’*

…

At 8 PM on October 5, G-Dragon’s agency, YG Entertainment, issued a response, denying that its artist, BigBang leader G-Dragon, had smoked marijuana.

**[Our agency’s artist G-Dragon did not smoke marijuana. On May 31, during G-Dragon’s afterparty for the Japan tour, he was offered a cigarette by a Japanese fan while going to the restroom. Because the person claimed to be a fan, GD accepted the cigarette out of love for his fans. However, at the moment he took it, GD received a phone call from a non-celebrity friend and did not smoke it.**

**After being summoned in July, out of a sense of duty as a citizen and artist, GD cooperated fully with the investigation. His hair follicle test came back negative.**

**This is the full response regarding this incident. Regarding media outlets that maliciously spread falsehoods, our agency reserves the right to pursue legal liability.]**

Attached to the statement was the surveillance footage from that night.

In the video, under the dim lighting typical of a nightclub, Kwon Jiyong came out of the restroom and was stopped by a strange man who claimed to be a fan. The man gestured animatedly while speaking, and Kwon Jiyong maintained a polite smile and nodded throughout. Then the man offered a cigarette to Kwon Jiyong, who clearly hesitated. The man spoke again, persuading him, and only then did Kwon Jiyong accept the cigarette.

It was at that moment that the phone screen on Kwon Jiyong’s device, which had been dark, lit up. He glanced at the caller ID, immediately nodded goodbye to the man, and walked forward while answering the call.

From the surveillance footage, it was clear that Kwon Jiyong hadn’t wanted to accept the cigarette in the first place. He only took it out of politeness after the man repeatedly urged him, but he merely held it in his hand.

After YG’s statement and the surveillance video were released together, public opinion finally turned around.

*’Thank goodness!’*

*’I knew GD wouldn’t do something like that.’*

*’Yeah, BigBang is developing so well, and his own career is soaring—why would he do something so self-destructive!’*

*’Damn, who is so malicious to do this to our GD?’*

*’Really, it was completely intentional. GD refused the first time, and that guy still kept pushing.’*

*’I’m starting to think this is a conspiracy—could it be because BigBang is doing so well right now and getting in someone’s way?’*

*’You can really see from this video how much GD loves his fans. He only accepted it because the person was waving the “fan” flag.’*

*’All those people who were shouting that GD did something unforgivable and should leave the team—come out here!’*

*’Get your facts straight—our GD is the soul of BigBang. Without him, there would be no BigBang today!’*

*’It has to be said, we should be grateful to that friend. Without that phone call, and with that bastard persistently staring him down, GD might really have smoked that cigarette.’*

*’Yeah, one puff and he’d have been done for, and then there’d be no way to explain it.’*

…

But even with the evidence right in front of them, those who wanted to smear Kwon Jiyong always found ways to attack him.

*’YG really is one of the Big Three agencies—they can twist any news like this. Impressive, impressive.’*

*’Of course they have to protect GD. YG’s “G” stands for GD’s G!’*

*’What’s even real anymore? Even test results can be faked. Our country is so dark it’s terrifying.’*

*’Celebrities have it good—with fame, they can do whatever they want.’*

…

Although there were still anti-fans relentlessly questioning and spreading rumors, at least the solid evidence presented to the public helped restore his public image.

Then, on November 6, 2011, at the MTV Europe Music Awards held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, BigBang won the award for Best Worldwide Act, becoming the first Korean artist to win at that awards ceremony.

Koreans, who had always favored Western music, seemed to forget overnight all the slander, mockery, and defamation they’d heaped on Kwon Jiyong, and flocked back to support him.

In an instant, the entire nation was filled with praise and adoration for Kwon Jiyong.

As the person at the center of it all, Kwon Jiyong did not appear publicly again after posting a photo from the awards ceremony on his personal Instagram that night, except for the YG Family Concert in December.

His next public appearance was in February, on the program *Healing Camp*, where he spoke for the first time about the incident that had shaken the nation the previous year.

On that show, he personally described the entire sequence of events that night, including mention of the friend who had called him.

“Because the tour had gone so well, and the fans’ cheers made me feel incredibly happy, I was still really excited even during the afterparty. By the time the party was halfway through, I’d drunk a lot and was feeling dizzy. When he said he was my fan, I believed it all too easily.” Kwon Jiyong spoke with a furrowed brow. “I knew I shouldn’t accept things from strangers in that kind of setting, but I’d just received so much love from the fans, so I couldn’t bear to disappoint the ‘fan’s’ kindness. That was when my friend called.”

“Because you’d just received so much love from the fans, you didn’t want to let them down, so you accepted the cigarette from that ‘fan’—is that right?”

“Yes.” Kwon Jiyong nodded obediently.

*’GD really has lost a lot of weight!’*

*’Why do they have to do this to him?’*

*’Ah, damn it, die, you bastard!’*

*’GD really only accepted it because that person said he was a fan!’*

*’Our GD has always, always placed fans in a very important position!’*

*’But a person this good gets treated like this?’*

*’This was completely a disaster he had nothing to do with. It had nothing to do with him, yet he got cursed at for no reason.’*

*’Yeah, GD seems so much more withdrawn now, not as lively and cheerful as before.’*

*’He was completely the nation’s little brother before—ridiculously cute.’*

*’But I can understand it now. After something like this, it’s hard to smile again.’*

*’Oh, what do we do, our GD? Why does he have to go through this?’*

The host nodded and then asked about another detail in Kwon Jiyong’s words: “The friend you mentioned just now—is that friend a celebrity friend?”