For celebrities – especially those in the South Korean entertainment industry where
fan culture is another level of intense – it can be easy to develop an inflated ego.
Although it might be impossible for fans to fully grasp an idol’s true character, sometimes
the mask slips off and they offer glimpses through candid interviews, social media posts
and even controversies
1.
Wonyoung being too obsessed with the center position
Since dropping her debut with IVE, Jang Wonyoung seemed to be really infamous with numerous
controversies around her alleged incompetence and bad attitude.
And lately, the young female idol has again triggered a hot discussion on social platforms
due to being allegedly obsessed with the center position.
To be more specific, on July 2 last year, Wonyoung got on many netizens’ nerves due
to her graceless action of trying to be the center of attention when IVE appeared at 2022
UNI-KON.
After performing LOVE DIVE, all members walked down to get closer to fans and interact with
them but instead of arranging themselves following the usual lineup, this time they stood randomly
and Liz was seen to stand at the center position.
Realizing that she wasn’t in the middle spot, Wonyoung immediately turned to Liz and
asked her to switch the position with her even though the lineup was settled down already.
In fact, there are many other times the female idol was caught rushing to the center position
as if someone would take it from her, but to netizens, this time was like the last straw,
making them so fed up and speechless.
Many criticized Wonyoung for being an attention-seeker and so mean towards other members when just
keeping the center position for herself as well as acting like she is the main character
in every event.
It was that obsession that made her have an action that is said to be extremely unexpecting
and irritating: asking Liz to give her the position back.
Many lend a sympathetic ear to Liz after the incident, saying that the poor girl must feel
so awkward and embarrassed.
What's more, they believe that internal conflicts must often occur in IVE considering the way
Wonyoung always wants to be the protagonist all the time and overshadows the other members,
not giving them a chance to shine.
Thus, netizens asked Wonyoung to stop being self-absorbed and assuming the center position
is hers only as if she is on a higher level compared to her fellow members.
On the other hand, Wonyoung’s fans stated that what netizens were talking about their
idol is totally nonsense since the lineup had been fixed earlier according to Starship’s
settlement and IVE couldn’t decide their position, so Wonyoung is totally not wrong
to follow the company's arrangement.
Thus, they asked netizens to stop making up the story to draw criticism to the female
idol while in fact she is doing the right thing.
If netizens don’t like Wonyoung, they could just stop caring about her instead of nitpicking
on every one of her moves.
2.
NewJeans’ Minji being allegedly overconfident
Lately, NewJeans has had a fun quiz on QQ Music including a list of printed multiple-choice
questions including the one asking which skills you are confident in most.
It seems that there’s nothing worth discussing, but Minji was soon under harsh criticism after
choosing all 4 skills: vocals, rap, dance, and producing, while other members just chose
maximum 1 or 2 skills.
Many said that Minji is too arrogant and not judicious when boasting about her ability
with excessive pride.
In fact, in NewJeans, she’s not the member with best dancing skills but Hanni is, her
vocals also said to be quite bland and boring since her performance is not as good as other
members in Ditto's live stage, and producing is not just about participating in writing
the lyrics.
Thus, maybe Minji should have chosen only 1 skill: rapping.
Some even assumed that Minji’s overconfidence is the result of NewJeans gaining massive
popularity lately.
The female idol believed that her skills are proportional to her group's reputation and
that’s why she didn’t hesitate to tick all the boxes.
Netizens also added that Minji needs to bear in mind that there are many veteran idols
with way better skills don’t act that way, and a rookie one who just debuted for only
7 months like her should know the limit.
Immediately, Minji’s fans came to the defense of their idol, pointing out that she indeed
ticked all the boxes but the thing is that she has changed the question from “confident
in most” to “need to practice more”, which means that she wants to improve these
skills.
If you pay attention, there was a very large black handwriting of Minji but some netizens
intended to turn a blind eye to it in order to lead others on and create a bad impression
of her on nonfans.
She, in fact, is highly aware of her incomplete abilities which need to be polished in the
future, and is obviously a humble girl who always strives for the better
3.
Wonyoung and Leeseo blatantly lip-syncing
On December 31, 2022, Wonyoung and Leeseo attended the 2022 MBC Gayo Daejejeon, where
they showcased a refreshing cover of IU's "Strawberry Moon."
However, netizens’ antipathy grew like crazy as soon as the duo’s performance was uploaded
to Youtube.
Particularly, the performance came under fire for being overloaded with lip-syncing and
the 2 female idols barely opening their mouths.
Normally, it can be quite a difficult task to sing while performing complicated choreography,
therefore, lip-syncing makes sense in these circumstances.
However, what people found difficult to accept was that Wonyoung and Leeseo didn't have any
choreography to roll out and were seen sitting still for the entire performance.
As a result, tons of netizens jumped on the issue, directing criticism toward the 2 girls
for seriously looking down on their audience by bringing such a half-hearted performance
on stage.
Some said that this is just a manifestation of the fact that Wonyoung and Leeseo are probably
thinking they're A-list stars as IVE only debuted less than a year but have already
won Daesang and Rookie of the Year at major awards ceremonies.
Therefore, they thought they have enough influence to do whatever they wanted without getting
condemned.
At this point, even fans of the girls turned their backs on them, expressing their dismay
and saying that their main job isn’t “actress” but “singer”, so they should seriously
work on their performing skills instead of just acting like pretty dolls and throwing
flirty expressions all the time.
Some even stated that if Wonyoung and Leeseo wouldn’t change, they would rather stan
an AI-idol rather than these incompetent and arrogant girls.
In the midst of a huge wave of arguments raised against the 2 female idols, there are still
several fans defended the girls, blaming Starship Entertainment for using them for clout by
turning them into controversial individuals to attract attention.
Thus, this is not Wonyoung and Leeseo's fault at all as they were forced to do it for the
sake of their agency and netizens should stop calling them out since they are just victims.
So, except for Minji, do you think these idols really think they're A-list stars and act
like they’re superior like netizens claimed?