Idols suffering harsh criticism about their appearance from the press and netizens on
a regular basis is no longer a strange thing in Kpop.
Nevertheless, some idols even have to suffer disparaging comments about their looks from
their own colleagues who understand better than anyone how much pressure an idol must
bear to maintain the best possible look.
Here are the idols who are said to have little sympathy for their groupmates as they allegedly
made fun of their body features:
1.
ENHYPEN was said to fatshame Sunoo
Recently, members of ENHYPEN found themselves in trouble after several fans took offense
to their fatphobic statements made on a broadcast session.
Specifically, on June 19, Sunoo, Ni-Ki, Jake, and Jungwon, held a live broadcast on Vlive,
engaging in a casual chat session.
At first, the broadcast started well, with the members joking and interacting with their
fans, however, a particular segment seemed to quickly steal the spotlight.
In the clip, Sunoo and Sunghoon were talking about Sunghoon’s reaction whenever the two
walked past each other.
Sunoo said, "Every time I bump into Sunghoon hyung, he’d always say a wild boar hit him
and acts like he’s going to fly away”.
While the statement itself was said jokingly, the viewers were left in confusion as it wasn’t
the first time something like this had happened.
Nevertheless, what raised more concern among fans was Jungwon’s saying: “The elephant
one was really funny.”
Though this sentence may seem to be an inside joke among the members, it made many netizens
uncomfortable, especially since elephants are commonly used when comparing someone with
heavy animals to make fun of their weight.
Turns out, this reference was made by Sunghoon on another show in the past.
When the director told Sunghoon that the session would be stopped there, he pulled a joke and
said “I can’t, there’s an elephant sitting here”.
What was more confusing is that Ni-ki, the maknae of the group, was also said to have
made several impolite comments about Sunoo, saying that he ate a lot in one interview.
Given that Sunoo and his weight have been the butt of jokes many times in the past,
netizens felt like the other members should refrain from making such fatphobic statements
repeatedly.
They also pointed out that Sunoo is not chubby anymore, and these repeated comments about
his allegedly "excessive" weight could hurt him emotionally.
While many claimed that some fans were too sensitive over some mere jokes between close
friends and believed that Sunoo didn’t mind those jokes as all ENHYPEN members, including
Sunoo, burst into laughter, others pointed out that his laughing was a nervous, defensive
act and criticized the other members for making fun of someone’s weight.
They also said that as public figures, ENHYPEN should have more responsibility for their
sayings, since they can spread negative notions about beauty to their younger fans, leading
to serious implications.
2.
EXO was said to make fun of Kai’s skin tone
In the past, EXO members had stirred up controversy several times for making allegedly rude comments
about Kai’s skin tone.
During one TV show in 2017, the MC asked who would be most suited for a Coffee commercial
and all other members pointed at Kai.
Suho even added that Kai was the most suitable one for the Coffee commercial because his
skin color was black just like Coffee, making everyone on set burst out laughing.
However, netizens did not feel the same way and believed that Suho as well as other members
had gone too far with their joke.
Although Kai was seen smiling when everyone was making fun of him, fans noticed his awkwardness
on hearing Suho’s statement and believed that he just tried to put on a smile because
the group was broadcasting.
Ever since his debut days, Kai has been unconfident with his dark skin tone since he always received
countless rude comments from not only his haters but also some of his seniors.
Kai also once confessed that he did not like to mention his skin.
Even though he had learned to love and appreciate himself and tried not to take offense at jokes
about his skin, netizens claimed that Suho should not have made such an offensive comment
about Kai’s insecurity only to hype up the show.
This was not the first time this topic raised concern among fans, as other members of EXO
also made fun of Kai several times before.
For example, during one radio talk show, Chanyeol once asked Kai if he wanted to bleach his
skin, making Kai give him a rather annoyed look.
On another occasion, when being asked to draw a representation of Kai, D.O questionably
used only black crayons and illustrated a completely dark figure.
Although other members deemed that his drawing was funny, Kai was left in confusion and the
audience could clearly notice his shy expression.
With all the negative feelings Kai has to endure just because of his skin color, netizens
believed that it's high time for the other members to reconsider their behavior and stop
hurting Kai for some cheap laughs.
3.
RM was said to pull jokes on V and Jhope’s skin
Though RM is often praised for his intelligence and great sense of humor, he once let his
fans down with one allegedly offensive joke about V and Jhope's skin tone.
Specifically, during an interview in Melbourne in 2015, RM was asked by a reporter from Officially
KMusic to describe his first impression of meeting his groupmates, and RM’s answer
was said to make many ARMYs, especially V and Jhope’s fans, feel extremely shock and
hurt, he said: "I couldn't see them because they were too black.
When nights get dark, I can't find them”.
This seemingly innocuous statement of RM led to a heated controversy and a wave of hatred
poured on the leader of BTS.
The reason things got that far is because many people believed RM was being colorist
and racist.
This was also regarded as the major reason why he received two death threats during BTS’s
America tour in 2015, considering the rise of the #Blacklivesmatter movement.
Later on, the group even had to abruptly conclude their sold-out concert and canceled their
hi-touch event to ensure the safety of the members.
Though many fans said RM was just joking a little bit for fun without malice so people
shouldn’t exaggerate things like that, it’s hard to deny the power of words, since only
one harmless joke can lead to such serious consequences.
4.
Sakura was said to fatshame her groupmate
Renowned for her sweet and cute aura as well as the successful debut with IZ*ONE and later
with Le Sserafim, Sakura really shocked netizens when the rumor of her bodyshaming another
member of her old group HKT48 spread on the Internet.
Things started when someone accused Sakura of fatshaming her fellow Meru Tashima in an
old tweet and that shocking accusation immediately caught the attention of netizens.
The accuser said that Sakura had uploaded a photo of Meru Tashima performing at a concert
with the caption “no matter how many times I look at this, I can’t stop laughing”
and “the costume might burst to the brim”, which seemed quite offensive according to
many netizens.
Later on, Sakura claimed that her Twitter account was hacked and she did not have any
mean intentions toward her colleague.
Nevertheless, netizens found this excuse unreasonable, claiming that she was trying to cover up the
dark side of her personality to protect her naive image in front of the public’s eyes.
Some detective netizens even suspected that Sakura meant to reply to the account posting
the picture as a direct message that was supposed to be private but instead she made it public
by mistake, and once she realized the tweet was made public, it was quickly deleted.
However, fans were quick enough to capture a screenshot the moment she uploaded the comments.
Many said that it was clear what her intentions were and that was to make fun of the individual
in the photo.
They believed that there is so much hidden behind Sakura’s pretty face and it's hard
to actually see what kind of a character she really has.
Until now, there has been no official confirmation from Sakura’s agencies yet the fact that
she is now one of the most popular members of Le Sserafim and is still leading a successful
career made many netizens outrageous.
Some even questioned how could people blindly follow such a controversial person without
realizing their inner personality and tolerate their offensive behaviors regardless of the
seriousness.
Though fans may stick with their favorite idols through thick and thin and defend them
all the time, it is clear that there are some lines that can't be crossed and bodyshaming
should be one of those.
So, what are your thoughts on this?
Do you think these idols really have a bodyshaming mindset or are netizens just exaggerating
things?