[SBS Star] L'Occitane Korea Apologizes After Employee Leaks MINGYU's Topless Photos

French luxury beauty brand L'Occitane apologized after their employee leaked inappropriate photos of the brand's new Asia ambassador, MINGYU of K-pop boy group SEVENTEEN. 

Recently, a L'Occitane employee shared screenshots on social media showing their phone's photo album filled with images of MINGYU from his recent photo shoot with the brand. 

Among these photos were some of MINGYU topless, as he had done a shower scene for the Asia Ambassador campaign.

The photos were taken from the side of the photographers and through monitors, indicating they were not official images. 

The employee captioned the screenshots, "MINGYU takes up most of the space in my photo album. I couldn't delete them until now, but I feel like it's time to sort them out."

Fans of SEVENTEEN were outraged upon seeing this post and quickly filed formal complaints with L'Occitane, accusing the company of invading MINGYU's privacy.
As the controversy intensified, L'Occitane Korea issued an official apology on September 3, addressing the situation and the concerns raised by fans.

L'Occitane Korea said, "We sincerely apologize for the recent incident involving the unauthorized release of photos from the L'Occitane Asia Ambassador campaign, which were improperly distributed on the personal social media account of one of our employees. We acknowledge that there is no excuse for this breach and fully accept responsibility for what has occurred."

The company continued, "We take this matter with the utmost seriousness, and we deeply regret the distress caused to the artist and all the fans. We extend our deepest apologies to them. The employee involved has been completely removed from all duties, and immediate disciplinary action (suspension) has been enforced." 

They added, "To prevent such incidents in the future, we will implement a comprehensive and regular training program for all employees. This program will emphasize the critical importance of respecting the copyrights, portrait rights, publicity rights, and privacy of our brand ambassador. We will ensure that every employee thoroughly understands and adheres to these principles, and we will approach this process with a strong sense of responsibility." 

Concluding the apology, they stated, "We deeply regret the occurrence and accept full responsibility. Once again, we sincerely apologize to the artist and all the fans."
(Credit= Online Community, 'loccitanekorea' Instagram) 

(SBS Star)