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Back in August 2020, sexual harassment allegations involving minors were made against local YouTuber and radio DJ Dee Kosh.
While police investigations are still ongoing, Dee Kosh has been "on leave" from Power 98FM since Aug. 17, 2020, staying mostly out of the public eye except for a small update on Sep. 23, 2020.
The talents who were under Dee Kosh's management also faced public scrutiny, due to speculation on their alleged involvement in the case.
While the "Dee Kosh boys" (as they are known) continued to update their Instagram pages, they were absent from YouTube — specifically Dee Kosh's YouTube channel that was their main video platform.
On Feb. 8, six out of the seven boys made their comeback to the YouTube scene via a new channel named "Ready Set Bro".
Ready Set Bro
The six boys are Ben Tang (@bentanggg), Xinde Yap (@xindeyap), Go Shin Song (@goshisong), Hamza Zaidi (@hamzazaidi), Marcus Tan (@justmarcuz), and Keith (@mehkeith).
Makeup artist Putra Hambali Hussaini (@mahcutykins), who was part of Dee Kosh's artiste line-up, did not appear in this video, despite his earlier departure from Dee Kosh's agency.
On Feb. 8, the seven YouTubers announced the new channel on their respective Instagram accounts with an introductory video of some team members.
Yap opens the video by announcing that he is "still married", which may bring to mind his extramarital affair/blackmail scandal in December 2020.
Although Yap also shared the introductory video on his Instagram, he mentioned in the caption that he will "be continuing [his] break and will not be joining the rest in the upcoming videos and will be focusing on spending more time with [his] family".
The channel has amassed 4,790 subscribers since its opening.
Dee Kosh saga
Ready Set Bro kicks off on a strong note by addressing the Dee Kosh saga in a 19-minute video.
The five boys responded to the following questions:
- How they felt when they saw the allegations online
- If they were mad at Dee Kosh
- If any of the accusations were true
- What people were saying about them
- How people close to them reacted to the whole saga
- How they were treated in school during that time
- How they feel about Dee Kosh now
- Whether Dee Kosh knows about the new channel
How they learnt about the saga
Go and Hamza disclosed that Dee had contacted them directly about the allegations.
Dee Kosh had allegedly asked Go if he felt sexually harassed by him, as Go's name was mentioned by one of the accusers.
In addition, Hamza and Tan maintained that they did not feel sexually harassed by Dee Kosh, and were not solicited for sexual favours.
Tang looked visibly affected and expressed his disappointment towards the matter, saying he was "very angry initially" at Dee Kosh.
Online speculation had affected Hamza and Tang to the extent that Hamza deleted his Instagram for a while, while Tang did not dare to leave his home.
On the other hand, Keith acknowledged that he "did not word the statement very well", which gave rise to the backlash.
He then explained why he subsequently deleted it, and how he was treated in school during that time.
Lastly, Go expressed his appreciation to the people who showed concern and were there for him during that tough time, while Hamza shared that his family and friends were concerned about his mental wellbeing due to the backlash.
Dee Kosh gave blessings for new channel
Tang and Hamza addressed Yap's absence from the video, with Tang confirming that Yap is "still part of the channel but is taking time off to take care of his personal stuff, his family, and just to get better".
Hamza added that he still keeps in touch with Dee Kosh who is "focusing on himself, spending time with his family" and "waiting for the police investigation to be completed."
According to Tang, Dee Kosh had given the boys his blessings when they asked him about starting the new channel.
The video has garnered around 65,390 views, 2,300 likes, and 225 comments at the time of writing. Most of the comments were supportive with words of encouragement for the boys.
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Top images by @deekosh on Instagram and Ready Set Bro.