Recently, a number of posts on platforms such as Naver Blog discussing the changing relationship between Son Dam Bi, Gong Hyo Jin, and Jung Ryeo Won have reportedly become inaccessible due to “rights infringement (defamation) reports.” The content has been temporarily blocked after a complaint was filed by an individual claiming to have suffered reputational damage because of the posts.
However, having a post taken down does not necessarily mean that the content has been determined to be false. Conversely, it does not mean that the claims made by the author have been officially recognized as true. Online platforms’ rights infringement reports and temporary measures are procedures that restrict the visibility of content in response to a complaint, and should therefore be distinguished from a judicial ruling that determines the truth of the claims.
Even so, the situation is attracting attention because the changing relationship between Son Dam Bi and her former close friends has been repeatedly discussed by entertainment media and online communities for several years. Son Dam Bi, Gong Hyo Jin, and Jung Ryeo Won were once known as some of the entertainment industry’s closest friends. They openly talked about their friendship on television, shared moments of their lives together on social media, and appeared to be close enough to spend time together with their respective families.
Son Dam Bi’s friendship with Jung Ryeo Won, in particular, was publicly shown on several occasions. In 2020, Son Dam Bi appeared on MBC’s I Live Alone, where she shared moments from her daily life with Jung Ryeo Won and expressed her special affection for her by describing her as “a friend and a love.”
Questions surrounding their relationship began to emerge more prominently in 2022. In May of that year, Gong Hyo Jin, Jung Ryeo Won, and Soy were notably absent from Son Dam Bi and Lee Kyu Hyuk’s wedding, despite previously being known as her close friends. This led to speculation that something had changed between them. At the time, Son Dam Bi directly denied the speculation. After her wedding, she addressed the rumors on social media, saying that the stories surrounding her were “different from the facts” and asking people not to misunderstand the situation.
However, the questions did not completely disappear. Later that year, when Gong Hyo Jin married Kevin Oh in New York, Jung Ryeo Won traveled to the United States to celebrate the occasion with her. Son Dam Bi, meanwhile, was not reported to have attended. The three women, who had previously traveled together and regularly shared aspects of their daily lives, also became increasingly difficult to see together publicly afterward.
In 2023, Son Dam Bi introduced some of her close friends through her own content, mentioning Kang Seung Hyun and Ji Yi Soo, among others. However, Gong Hyo Jin and Jung Ryeo Won, who had once been considered among her closest friends, were not mentioned. Of course, the fact that she did not mention someone cannot, by itself, be taken as proof that a friendship has ended. Relationships can naturally change over time, and celebrities are not obligated to explain every aspect of their private relationships to the public.
Similar attention arose again during Son Dam Bi’s baby shower last year. Ahead of giving birth, she invited close acquaintances to spend a special day together. At the time, she explained that she had invited close older friends, friends, and younger acquaintances, expressing her gratitude to those who had come to celebrate her and her unborn child. The gathering naturally prompted renewed interest in her current circle of friends.
Ultimately, the facts that can be publicly confirmed at this point are relatively clear. Son Dam Bi has denied that the previously raised “falling-out rumors” were true. At the same time, Son Dam Bi, Gong Hyo Jin, and Jung Ryeo Won, who once publicly appeared to be as close as family, did not appear together at one another’s weddings afterward, and it has also become difficult to find public displays of their friendship like those seen in the past.
However, attempts to erase traces of the controversy online could ironically end up bringing the fading issue back into the spotlight. A story that had gradually become less prominent in the public’s memory could generate renewed curiosity precisely because posts about it are being restricted.
From Son Dam Bi’s perspective, it is understandable that she may not welcome the term “falling-out rumors” continuing to be associated with her name for years. After getting married, having a child, and building a new family life, she may naturally feel tired of seeing past relationships repeatedly brought back into public discussion. Above all, who someone becomes close to or grows apart from is deeply personal.
Malicious defamation and false claims should certainly be addressed. However, treating questions or criticism based on publicly available facts by the same standard could inevitably create another conflict between freedom of expression and the protection of an individual’s reputation. This is why efforts to erase the “falling-out rumors” may instead prompt some to argue that they amount to “trying to hide the sky with the palm of one’s hand.”
Son Dam Bi has the right to protect her reputation, but there also appears to be room for discussion about how far reasonable criticism and opinions based on publicly confirmed facts can be restricted.
Sources: Nate