There have been quite a number of hot stories involving our beloved K-pop stars over the past few days.
From racist lyrics to misogynistic remarks, these stars found themselves feeling the wrath of fans and netizens all over the internet. So far, most of the idols in the list have yet to address the controversy. While a few of them (in addition to their agencies) have since cleared the air on the matter and apologised.
For those interested on the juicy gossips, check out what these 5 celebs have gotten into this week!
1. BLACKPINK’s Jennie (제니)
Jennie was accused of appropriating Chinese culture after she posted photos of her wearing a red-coloured top with her hair braided into a round shape. In a Weibo post titled “Jennie wore Hong Hai’er (Red Boy)’s clothes, netizens claimed her outfit and hairstyle resembles the clothing of the character from “The Journey To The West”. Because of that, most of them criticised her for apparently “stealing” the culture.
2. Stray Kids’ Han (한)
The rapper came under fire after a past rap song made by him when he was only 13 found its way online. In the song, he not only uses the n-word (as perceived by many Koreans), but he also used racist and ableist phrases against Southeast Asians.
Not long after that, Han posted a lengthy handwritten letter and apologised for his previous mistake. Check out the translated text here:
3. BLACKPINK’s Lisa (리사)
BLINKs (the girl group’s fandom name) weren’t having it after they discovered that Lisa has been bombarded with hate mails for being the only non-Korean member in BLACKPINK. Fans have since banded together and trended the hashtag “#RespectLisa” on Twitter. Many of them also called for fellow internet users to stop spreading hate and say no to racism as a symbol of support for the Thai starlet.
4. SHINee’s Taemin (태민)
Taemin got into a sticky situation after an old clip of him from 2013 resurfaced online. At that time, SHINee appeared on the radio show ‘Choi Hwa Jung’s Power Time’ as special guests. During the interview, the members were asked if they have an ideal type of woman.
Taemin responded, “I do believe in the stereotype that women have to be feminine or womanly. But I do still like girls who I feel have a sense of responsibility and deep thinking after talking to them even though they’re girls,” much to the dismay of netizens.
Here are some thoughts shared by them:
- “It’s funny to hear such words from a Korean guy who is the least manly,”
- “This video is from a long time ago.”
- There were a lot of guys thinking that way back then.”
- “I’m not a fan of Taemin nor am I shielding him but a lot of men thought that way a long time ago; they would say a woman has to act feminine.”
- “He started to be part of that kind of society when he was so young, so, of course, he would say things like that.”
5. Gfriend’s Sowon (소원)
so from what i heard gfriend had a nazi soldier on their set then sowon decided to pose and take pics with it and only deleted it because 'the fans would be jealous' then sinb saved sowon on her phone as 'kitler' which is a mix of kim sojung and hitler, i honestly have no words. pic.twitter.com/vS9pOyYERX
— MINA◡̈ (@chenjicub) January 31, 2021
Last but not least, Gfriend leader Sowon became a hot topic of conversation among fans earlier this week. It all started after the 26-year-old uploaded photos of her next to a Nazi mannequin on her Instagram. She later removed the post, claiming that fans “would get jealous” of her posts. This has in turn sparked backlash among fans over her insensitive act.
It didn’t end there though. As fans later discovered, this wasn’t the group’s first controversy surrounding the topic of Nazis. Back in 2016, fellow member SinB revealed in a V Live stream that she had saved Sowon as “Kitler” in her phone, a play on her real name Kim Sojung and Hitler!
Gfriend’s label, Source Music released a statement to shed light on the incident, explaining that the staff involved were unaware of the issue with the decorations at the filming location. They further clarified that Sowon had expressed shock about the controversy, and felt sorry about the mishap.
Which of these stories shocked you the most? Feel free to share with us in the comments.
Sources: KpopStarz, Jazmine Media (1)(2), AllKpop, Oh No They Didn’t.
