Singer MC Mong, Cha Ga-won deny affair allegations

Singer MC Mong and Cha Ga-won, chairperson of his former agency One Hundred Label, have denied reports suggesting they were having an affair and said they plan to take legal action.

Singer MC Mong, left, and One Hundred Label Chairperson Cha Ga-won [YONHAP, ONE HUNDRED LABEL]

Singer MC Mong and Cha Ga-won, chairperson of his former agency One Hundred Label, have denied reports suggesting they were having an affair and said they plan to take legal action.

An online media outlet reported on Wednesday that the two had been romantically involved, citing KakaoTalk messages allegedly exchanged between the pair.

One Hundred Label followed with a statement the same day, refuting the report.

“After verifying the facts, we found that both the article’s claims and the KakaoTalk messages are untrue,” the agency said, claiming that the messages were fabricated.

“MC Mong was threatened by a relative of Cha, who sent the manipulated KakaoTalk messages,” the statement said. The agency alleged that the relative attempted to seize management control of Big Planet Made, a subsidiary label under One Hundred Label, by threatening MC Mong into forcibly selling his shares, during which the fabricated messages were circulated.

The agency added that MC Mong contacted the company after seeing the report to apologize.

“We plan to take strong legal action against the individual in question and the media outlet that first published the report,” One Hundred Label said, adding that it would adopt a zero tolerance approach.

“We will respond without leniency to malicious slander and the spread of false information targeting our artists and executives,” it said, urging media outlets to refrain from speculative reporting and defamatory claims.

MC Mong also posted — and later deleted — several messages on his social media accounts stating that the KakaoTalk messages were fabricated and that he would file a complaint against the media outlet that reported them.

MC Mong left One Hundred Label in July, saying at the time that he would entrust matters to Cha, and decided to study abroad to “focus on health and personal development.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY JANG GU-SEUL [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]