French luxury brand L'Occitane apologized after an employee leaked inappropriate photos of Seventeen's Mingyu.
The employee in question leaked the below photos of Mingyu taken during a shoot for L'Occitane with the caption, "Mingyu took up most of my photo album... I couldn't delete them because I was nervous. I guess I should take care of it now." Fans later added gray blocks to the images that exposed more of Mingyu's body to protect his privacy.
L'Occitane revealed the staff member has since been suspended, and the brand released an official apology in English as follows:
"This is L’Occitane Korea.
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.
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.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.
We deeply regret the occurrence and accept full responsibility. Once again, we sincerely apologize to the artist and all the fans."
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