Being a Kpop idol is both a physically and mentally demanding task.
They not only have to keep up with hectic schedules but also have to spend time honing
their performance skills and working-out to keep a perfect body.
Despite all that, idols are not allowed to show their weaknesses as they are always at
the center of attention where everyone expects them to bring out only fancy images, but sometimes
they just can’t try anymore and show signs of extreme weariness.
Below are some heartbreaking cases when idols were totally exhausted from overworking.
Jang Wonyoung (IVE)
It is reasonable to state that Wonyoung may be one of the most popular idols of the fourth
generation.
Debuting in 2018 as the center of IZ*ONE, she has captured the hearts of Kpop fans worldwide.
Her reputation has rocketed nonstop since she redebuted in 2021 with Starship Entertainment's
new girl group, IVE.
Though becoming the most popular member of a successful monster rookie giving her countless
gigs, from hosting a music show to being the ambassador of several brands, her back-to-back
schedules really sparked concern among fans.
On September 25th, Wongyoung attended an event in Paris for the French jewelry brand Fred,
where she is currently an ambassador.
Then just after a three-day stay, she had to return to South Korea immediately to gather
with IVE’s members for their appearance at Chungbuk University’s music festival.
Although Wonyoung still performed energetically and put 100% effort into the stages, it was
noticeable that the female idol appeared really tired and stifling.
Specifically, when Yujin was making a speech before IVE performed “LOVE DIVE”, Wonyoung
was seen short of breath and had to place a hand on her chest.
Although the female idol tried to hide her tiredness with a bright smiley face, she still
looked so exhausted and could barely stand still after the performance.
Wonyoung’s alarming health condition makes her fans furious with the way Starship Entertainment
overworked an 18-year-old like Wonyoung.
They even trended the statement “STARSHIP LET WONYOUNG REST”, demanding the company
take her physical health into serious consideration
It is noted that Wonyoung’s schedule in a short period of time is extremely jam-packed
and I’ll give you an example: On September 30, she had to film for Music Bank as their
MC, then moved to perform with IVE at two different music festivals on the same day,
one in Seoul and one outside the capital.
2 days later, IVE organized a fansite just before Wonyoung flew back to Paris to attend
MiuMiu fashion event.
Continuously on October 6th, 7th and 8th, IVE was booked to appear at several university
festivals.
As Wonyoung is the most famous member of IVE if not the most famous female idol in the
industry, thus being sought by several brands, Starship Entertainment is clearly overworking
her to make as much profit as they can.
Without ample time to eat, sleep and rest, Wonyoung’s health is severely damaged by
these packed schedules, leading to her looking malnourished and lifeless.
Previously, Wonyoung made fans and netizens all taken aback with her scrawny body while
performing at M!Countdown, which was remarkably skinnier than she had been when being an IZ*ONE’s
member and even when she first debuted with IVE.
With her recent condition, it is obvious that Wonyoung should be given enough time to rest
and improve her health but things didn’t seem to change as Wonyoung is still busy with
tons of domestic and international schedules.
LOONA
Recently, in 2022, LOONA participated in “Queendom 2”, a show for underrated Kpop girl groups.
Although they didn’t become the champion, LOONA still went viral for their outstanding
performances, which attracted numerous fans.
However, since the frequency of their concerts is too high, LOONA’s jam-packed schedule
has become a topic of discussion on online forums, making their fans really worried.
Recently, on Instiz, a user brought LOONA’s schedule for their world tour to light, including
their other schedules in-between shows.
Immediately, that sparks concern among both LOONA’s fans and netizens as the group’s
schedule is too tight and intensive.
It was pointed out that all members would get little to no break between shows, which
had extremely negative effects on their health.
In fact, some of LOONA’s members ended up getting exhausted due to lack of rest time.
Since the world tour “LOONA THE WORLD” started, BlockBerryCreative had to make announcements
about some members’ absence in some of their schedules.
In less than 1 month, 6 members of LOONA had serious health problems and couldn’t keep
up with the plan of their concert.
On August 12th, MyMusicTaste made a statement that Kim Lip couldn’t participate in LOONA’s
“Meet&Greet” event in Chicago due to health issues.
On August 18th, the group’s concert as well as “Meet&Greet” event in Washington DC
also had to proceed without JinSoul for the same reason.
On August 24th, Yeonjin was absent from LOONA’s concert and “Meet&Greet” event in Atlanta
because she was suffering from body pain.
5 days later, during LOONA’S concert in Mexico City, she even passed out on stage,
making the audience really panicked.
On August 27th, Choerry was announced to be sick and couldn’t show up in all of LOONA’s
schedules in Houston.
A week later, on September 3rd, BlockBerryCreative informed that the female idol couldn’t participate
in the group’s world tour in Europe due to health issues.
On September 6th, because of a shoulder injury, Haseul couldn’t continue her schedule in
Europe and according to a netizen, the female idol even had to comeback to Korea to receive
treatment.
On September 8th, Yves caught a fever and was absent from LOONA’s concert as well
as “Meet&Greet” events.
Despite all that, after their Europe tour finished in September, LOONA even had to head
straight to Japan for their Japanese concert on October 1st.
Needless to say, fans and netizens were extremely furious with the way BlockBerryCreative neglected
LOONA’s health condition and overworked them for the sake of money that some of their
fans even asked to cancel all the remaining concerts since they value their idols’ wellness
more than a few shows.
ONEUS
2 months after their successful release of the sixth mini-album “BLOOD MOON” with
“LUNA” as the title song, ONEUS’s mini-album suddenly became the topic of controversy on
Korean online forums because fans and netizens noticed the number of fansign the group planned
to organize.
Specifically, for this comeback, ONEUS had a full schedule of 46 fansigns (both offline
and online), not to mention their presence in reality shows, performance stages and MV
productions.
At the same time, ONEUS has participated in several concerts from the second half of 2021
to the time being and RBW Entertainment also released a teaser about their second tour
in America.
This harsh schedule clearly exhausted all ONEUS’s members, leaving them with injuries
without time to recover.
And the epitome is that recently, many Kpop newspapers stated that 2 members of ONEUS,
Leedo and Xion, would go on hiatus for a certain time due to health reasons.
Specifically, Leedo was diagnosed with skin inflammation and Xion suffered from a knee
strain.
According to Soompi, both of them were advised by medical professionals to take a break for
one to two weeks.
However, just a few hours after the articles were released, Leedo and Xion still showed
up at an offline fansign and both of them showed noticeable signs of burnout.
Not only that, ONEUS’s fans also noticed that the two even had difficulties in walking.
Immediately, fans took to Twitter to express their irritation with the way RBW Entertainment
overworked their idols, saying that Tomoon are tired of seeing ONEUS running around all
the time and constantly getting hurt, and the company should have let ONEUS rest for
at least a whole month from then.
However, despite fans’ demands and warnings, RBW still refused to make further statements,
making netizens believe that the company was directly prioritizing profit over idols’
health.
Jennie (BLACKPINK)
Although the fact that Jennie was overworked is not a recent event but a thing of 2-3 years
ago, it was not until recently that she revealed how miserable she was around that time due
to having to keep up with BlackPink's hectic schedules.
Specifically, in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Jennie revealed that she and other
members of BLACKPINK had to work relentlessly to achieve their ambition in the music industry.
As one of the most hunted Kpop idols, Jennie often suffered from burnout while working
nonstop for three years straight.
Due to the intensive schedules of a member of the top girl group as well as a famous
soloist, Jennie hardly had anytime to rest.
She shared that “Our sleep systems were breaking down; we weren't eating properly;
I wasn't hydrating myself.
We were on tour for a year and a half.
For a year and a half I didn't have a home."
Because of that, Jennie’s immune system was significantly weakened, to the point that
she would have an allergic reaction whenever she touched something.
From November 2018 to February 2020, BLACKPINK organized their first world tour “In your
area”.
This world tour took place in 18 countries and went through 26 cities all over the world.
With nearly 500,000 tickets sold and 56,8 million dollars in profit, “In your area”
becomes the most profitable world tour of a Kpop girl group.
However, that massive profit goes hand in hand with the unbelievably intense schedule
which exhausted Jennie to the extreme.
The proof is that in BLACKPINK’s concert in Macau, she nearly fainted and couldn’t
continue performing.
In addition to numerous concerts with BLACKPINK, Jennie also had a busy schedule of her own.
She collaborated with Gentle Monster to release two glass collections, “Jentle home” and
“Jentle Garden” and ran a campaign.
At the same time, Jennie is the global ambassador of Calvin Klein and Channel.
In the last few years, she had attended tons of fashion events, commercials, interviews,
and taken countless photoshoots for magazines as well as brands.
Not only that, Jennie even had to spend some of her meager time filming HBO’s movie “The
idol”.
As BLACKPINK’s upcoming schedule will be tight again since their world tour BORN PINK
started, fans began to feel worried and wished that Jennie wouldn’t get overworked as well
as had enough time to rest.
So, are these idols are really being exploited?
Or are their fans just worrying too much?
And which of these idols do you think deserves an immediate break?