South Korean YouTuber Daud Kim, who gained fame in Malaysia after converting to Islam last year, has publicly apologized to a woman who accused him of trying to rape her more than a year ago.
Kim, who has more than two million subscribers on YouTube, posted the apology after video evidence of the purported incident drew online backlash yesterday. The 37-year-old said he could not remember hurting the woman as he was drunk, but recalled being asked to go over to her place in Hongdae, South Korea.
“I am sincerely sorry for the part that she was hurt by me. I’m sorry. I know it’s really bad,” Kim said in his apology video titled I am Daud. “I am also very sorry to my subscribers who would have been shocked and disappointed.”
The woman, known as TikToker @Kurapikacult, uploaded the video evidence after Kim allegedly breached their non-disclosure agreement by deleting an original apology of the incident from his Instagram. Kim admitted this, saying that he had deleted the post because he was afraid of backlash. According to the duo, a police report was filed against Kim following the incident but that was retracted after the agreement was made.
“At first I thought I didn’t do it because I didn’t remember, but after I listened to their words, I felt guilty,” Kim said yesterday. The YouTube video has been viewed more than 200,000 times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWRb79sCP-c
The woman rejected his apology today, saying that she had “rightfully” posted about the assault since he “conveniently wanted everyone to forget.”
“He apologized again publicly only because he was caught,” she wrote. The accuser did not immediately respond to Coconuts KL’s request for comment today.
Kim’s deleted statement had read: “I made a mistake, but it was sorted out with both parties, so for the sake of the parties, please do not mention this situation again.”
https://twitter.com/floufloi/status/1297941094047637505
The TikTok video she posted yesterday showed a man gathering his belongings and putting his pants back on while a woman could be heard crying in the background. The video caption read: “tired of his fans victim blaming while NOTHING happens to the perpetrator. pls signal boost #fyp #metoo #survivor #nomeansno #korea #speakup.”
Kim also said yesterday that the incident took place before he converted to Islam.
The former K-pop star with SM Entertainment has a big following in Malaysia and has even expressed his desire to visit the country. A number of Malaysians have also appeared on his channel, including YouTubers Sabrina Azhar and Farhatul Fairuzah.
Kim’s Malaysian fans received the news with mixed reactions. Most were disappointed in him, but there were some who were on the forgiving side because “everyone makes mistakes.”
https://twitter.com/hyedadean/status/1297731499244941320
https://twitter.com/seungievs/status/1297700821937688576
https://twitter.com/ss_srah/status/1297789595128459265
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