In Korea’s entertainment industry, controversy rarely stops at the person directly involved. Increasingly, speculation and online suspicion are spreading outward — pulling unrelated celebrities into the spotlight and leaving behind lasting reputational scars, even when no wrongdoing is proven. Toward the end of last year, a series of scandals dominated entertainment news, illustrating how quickly rumor can attach itself to public figures. Once a celebrity becomes linked to controversy — whether through direct action or mere association — a figurative label forms, and it can shake an image that took years to build. Celebrities find themselves pressured to apologize or explain, even when they are not the subject of the accusations themselves. Industry observers say the pattern is becoming familiar. As soon as uncertainty arises, entertainers are thrust onto what one critic calls a “moral judgment stage.” Staying silent is interpreted as suspicious, while explaining is dismissed as an excuse. Long before facts are clarified, negative impressions harden — and the individual