Kpop inherently has many cases of idols being harshly criticized just for some short statements.
Sometimes it's just a misunderstanding, sometimes it is not but in general, those statements
really made some fans feel disappointed and even boycott the idols.
1.
Sorn (CLC) casually lip-synced F-word in a Tiktok clip
Recently, Sorn seems to have become the focus of criticism when constantly making sensitive
and ridiculous statements and actions.
Specifically, in a recent video Sorn posted on Tiktok with the caption: "Should I start
watching Euphoria?", she lip-synced sensitive sentences using the F-word.
Besides, her seemingly arrogant attitude in the video also made netizens feel quite uncomfortable.
They left comments saying that she seems to be a cheap Tiktoker instead of an idol and
is trying to create controversy to become famous.
Some even urged her to leave all social platforms because they don’t want her to get famous
with the tricks she was doing.
Others agree that it is right to criticize Sorn because they believe she is not aware
of social or ethical issues.
This is not the first time Sorn has received such harsh criticism.
Previously, Sorn was accused of being a “colourist” in a controversial TikTok video.
Specifically, the female idol made a video about the characters in the series Squid Game.
In the video, she had recommended a large number of skincare products to Ali (played
by Anupam Tripathi), the only non-Korean main character of Squid Game, while the other characters
had only been presented with one or two.
In addition, Sorn also received a lot of criticism for her content on Tiktok because people believe
she is stealing ideas from other Tiktokers.
As an idol, specifically working for almost 7 years in a K-pop group, Sorn is expected
to have a better sense of copyright issues.
Yet, some pointed out Sorn's channel has almost no videos mentioning the source of her content,
most of which are culled from other Tiktokers’ videos.
2.
Yein (Lovelyz) swore in Mijoo's livestream
Swearing is one of the most sensitive topics in South Korea, especially for those who have
great influence on the younger generation like idols.
That's why when Lovelyz’s Yein accidentally cursed during Mijoo's livestream, she received
a lot of criticism from netizens.
The controversy started when Mijoo held a Naver V-Live broadcast to communicate with
fans.
As Yein noticed some malicious comments in the chatbox sexually harassing Mijoo, she
commented out of frame, “What were those bastards bitching about?” without noticing
that the camera had been turned on.
Although that footage was deleted on VLive right after Mijoo
ended the live, copies of the video still began to spread online.
Under those copies, there were many comments mocking Yein like “Have Lovelyz members
changed their image to swearing idols?”
or “They are good at swearing”.
Lovelyz is well-known as a girl group with a naive and girly image so this incident may
have shocked a lot of netizens.
Plus, there were also many teenagers watching the livestream so the way Yein swore is considered
really disturbing because this would be a bad example for young people.
In addition, there were also comments saying that Mijoo didn’t handle the situation well
when she just laughed instead of telling other members that she was doing a livestream.
In response to this matter, Woollim Entertainment issued an official statement the next day.
The agency stated that the livestream was done at home and the situation happened unintentionally
during their everyday conversation.
However, the company and Lovelyz were still sorry to have worried fans, and promised that
they would be more careful in the future as well.
Fortunately, there were many netizens siding with Yein and Lovelyz, they think that it
was justified for the girls to curse at sexual harassers instead of letting them do whatever
they want.
Fans also believe Yein didn’t have to apologize as she was doing nothing wrong and some so-called-fans
were just being too sensitive.
3.
Lai Guanlin (Wanna One) swearing at fans
To this point, Lai Guan Lin's image seems to have deteriorated in the eyes of netizens
with a series of scandals related to his attitude and personality.
Since the incident of Guanlin being recorded returning from a late-night gym session, many
other scandals related to him continued to be exposed consecutively.
Specifically, a fan of Guanlin revealed on Weibo that he used to swear at fans, what
he said is “fuck your mother”.
She even said that this was not the first time he has been caught swearing in front
of the camera and if he had repented, there wouldn’t have been the incident today.
After the story was revealed, many fans of Guanlin immediately left the fandom and netizens
started to criticize him severely cause they couldn't believe Guanlin became such a person.
Another fan also expressed her deep disappointment and regret as a long-time and devoted fan
of Guanlin.
Some said that despite their loyalty to him as a fan, not even they were sure they could
continue being his fan.
Regardless, a fan left a few words of advice for Lai Guanlin, telling him to respect and
cherish the fans who were staying by his side.
This swearing scandal plus a series of scandals such as smoking, spitting in public, giving
fan gifts to his girlfriend, made Lai Guan Lin post an official letter of apology on
his Weibo account, apologizing for his inappropriate behaviors and for hurting those who love him.
Finally, he acknowledged his wrongdoing and promised to change in the future.
After Guanlin's letter, many netizens said that it was good for him to apologize for
his actions.
Some believed that Guanlin in particular and other idols in general were ultimately humans
and they could make mistakes sometimes.
Others even revealed that the fansite exposing Guanlin was a stalker, stalking Guanlin 24/7
and spreading false information about him.
4.
Jennie caused controversy for her sensitive statements related to BTS
In a BLACKPINK’s interview with Hits 97.3 SOFLO Morning Show, Jennie attracted a lot
of mixed opinions from Kpop fans after her statement about BLACKPINK opening the doors
for other artists to spread their music.
Specifically, she said BLACKPINK wished they would be a group opening the doors for other
artists to spread their music, because music is not just for their country.
The reason why Jennie’s statement was controversial is that some netizens thought that before
BLACKPINK, there were many other Kpop artists who "paved the way" for Kpop to develop over
the world, and Blackpink's global popularity is just the result of the efforts of their
seniors.
That had led to the fact that many Kpop fans began attacking Jennie's Instagram account
with comments asking what door BLACKPINK had opened when it was already opened by senior
idols.
Many people also expressed that they were disappointed at the way Jennie didn’t acknowledge
other groups’ efforts.
They also believed it would be easier to understand if Jennie used the phrase "girl group" instead
of ‘group’ in general.
Meanwhile, many others directly said that it was BTS who “paved the way”, not BLACKPINK.
They even gave evidence that many K-pop groups, Korean artists and politicians believed that
BTS was the one who made Kpop become popular worldwide.
Besides the fierce criticism, there were also people who protected Jennie with a positive
point of view.
They believed that Jennie didn’t want to discredit anyone, though Jennie's words might
cause misunderstanding, it is true that BLACKPINK had really worked hard to get their position
and made Kpop more popular in the West.
Some said that those who criticized Jennie had gone too far and were being mean to Jennie.
5.
Jungwon (ENHYPEN) made shocking statement about the entrance exam
In South Korea, people always tell each other that there are 2 sensitive issues that should
be mentioned carefully, that is history and university entrance exams.
For Korean students, the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) is always considered as
the most important event in their academic life.
The eight-hour exam will determine the future of hundreds of thousands of students and it's
so important that nearly every city activity in South Korea has to change because of this
exam.
Because of the importance of this exam, all the statements that underestimate the efforts
of the students in the exam can make Koreans extremely angry, especially if those words
come from famous idols having great influence on young people.
Therefore, Jungwon's controversial statement soon drew negative responses from netizens
online.
During a live broadcast that took place after the exam ended, Jungwon said that the people
watching his Vlive must be the ones who didn’t do well on CSATs.
Although Sunghoon quickly stepped in, trying to “save” Jungwon by explaining that the
livestream could be a source of comfort for those that did not do well, Jungwon didn’t
get it and continued adding that the CSAT wasn’t that important.
As you can guess, the general public was not too happy about that and Jungwon’s statement
was immediately widely shared and criticized on online forums in Korea.
The incident quickly attracted more than 1,000 comments in a short time, and most of them
expressed frustration and anger at the insensitive saying of Jungwon when it came to an important
exam like CSATs.
Due to the strong backlash, Jungwon issued an apology a day after the livestream.
He apologized for his careless words and promised to do his best for the upcoming fan meeting
as well as to be more cautious in the future.
So, do you think that these idols’ statements are worthy of criticism or not?
Which idol on this list do you think doesn't deserve this?
Feel free to share your thoughts with us.
Also, don’t forget to like and subscribe to BebossTV for more interesting Kpop content.
Thank you for watching!