Aired for the first time in 2010, Idol Star Athletics Championships is one of the most
well-known Korean TV programs about Kpop idols where they compete in different types of sports
while fans converge to cheer them up.
Therefore, this is regarded as the golden opportunity for Kpop artists and their fans
to interact and express their love and support for each other.
However, to the surprise of many people, there are some groups recently got entangled in
accusations of treating their fans badly during the broadcast of the program.
ATEEZ
So during ISAC 2022, ATEEZ got into fierce criticism after being alleged to scrimp on
meals provided for fans who attended the recording of the show.
As you all know, the filming hours for ISAC are usually long and tiring, thus fans who
spend their precious time to come to cheer for their idols were expected to be treated
thoughtfully.
As a token of their appreciation, idol groups often provide free lunch boxes to their fans
for supporting them throughout the recording, however, when a post of a netizen comparing
the meals from CIX and ATEEZ blew up on the Internet, the singers of “WONDERLAND”
instantly came in for harsh criticism.
Specifically, on August 1, one netizen took to the online community Nate Pann to reveal
the food provided by CIX and ATEEZ to their respective fandoms.
This girl complimented CIX on their respectful attitude to fans by treating them to delicious
meals with a variety of options including sandwiches, Korean street food, drinks as
well as fruits and giving them dinner coupons at a high-end restaurant.
She even hailed CIX as the idols who spent the most money on their fans and mentioned
that the group really made their supporters proud with their care and appreciation.
On the contrary, the girl expressed her disappointment at ATEEZ for providing only $6 omurice coupons
for ATINY despite their massive income from national and international tours as well as
best-selling albums, leading to a wave of criticism poured on the group.
It was mentioned that the lunch provided to ATINYs was arranged at Kimbap Heaven.
The provided meal included an omurice (fried rice wrapped in egg omelet) with gravy sauce.
Although there was nothing wrong with the food choice or flavor, the problem was that
the amount of food was inadequate to treat all the fans who came to the show.
The OP also added that some fans ended up taking out the food, while others ate the
omurice on the floor.
In the comments section, other online community users flooded to express their opinions.
Some wondered eventhough CIX was not as successful and popular as ATEEZ, they still treated fans
with respect and appreciation then how come a big group like ATEEZ could let fans eat
mediocre meals on the floor.
Some also said that with their lucrative work and extreme wealth, ATEEZ could have definitely
treated fans to much more decent meals and provided them with worthy coupons as an appreciation
of their love, but they decided to let fans down instead with such inconsiderate action.
Nevertheless, some fans quickly came to the defense of their idols.
On the same day, one fan revealed the other foods (aside from omurice) that ATEEZ gave
to fans during the event to prove that the group clearly paid much attention to ATINYs.
In the post, this fan explained that the omurice was a pun on the group’s song that has the
line "Omurice that you can't bare", and that the boys only wanted to make fans laugh.
She then shared photos of the food truck ATEEZ sent to ATINY with cute paper bags,some Mernel
signed posters, photocards and Soba coupons for two people.
She also re-uploaded the pictures of the various foods the group gave to fans during ISAC three
years ago to state that they have long been caring for fans.
Besides the meals, ATEEZ also prepared hand-written notes for fans to thank them.
Thus, there was no way that such a thoughtful group could neglect and disrespect their fans
to the point that the netizens accused them on the Internet.
The defense post quickly received support from many others, agreeing that ATEEZ paid
much attention to their fans and always tried to express their appreciation of ATINYs.
The articles defending ATEEZ quickly went trending in Korea, attracting roughly 21,000
views as people believed that it was unfair for the boys to get bashed for some false
accusations.
Red Velvet
A similar case happened to Red Velvet at ISAC 2017, as the group was accused of giving improper
meals to their fans after a netizen uploaded a post on Twitter to compare the lunch box
provided by different Kpop groups.
Instead of making funny remarks to praise idols for taking care of their fans, this
netizen reviewed the meals by comparing their price and taste with a somewhat irritating
attitude, causing other netizens to pour scorn on her actions, especially when this girl
was said to offend Red Velvet and their fandom with rude remarks.
Specifically, the girl commented that Red Velvet was doing fine with the lunch when
providing expensive meals from Outback Steakhouse yet they quickly disappointed her with the
dinner package.
The girl said that she just couldn’t accept the sole Lotteria burger and a can of Pepsi
from the group, saying that this meal was definitely the worst among those from all
the groups that day.
Compared to the high-end meals provided by TWICE or BTS with a wide variety of side dishes
and even fruits as desserts, she claimed that Red Velvet clearly let their fans down with
their small expenditure on fans’ meals.
Though this netizen expects netizens to scrutinize Red Velvet after reading her post, the response
was contrary to her expectation as Kpop fans voiced their disagreement with her act of
comparing the price of each meal, saying that she was being disrespectful to the idols and
staff who made their efforts to prepare foods for fans.
Some also said that Red Velvet were thoughtful enough to treat fans with high-end lunches
from Outback Steakhouse, so it's just too much for this fan to ask for an equally expensive
dinner.
Additionally, netizens also stated that since ISAC is an athlete championship, idol’s
participation in their sports activities should be the main topic of discussion, rather than
the meals they provide.
Shortly after the controversy broke out, the OP had to delete her post and upload a statement
of apology to all the fans and idols involved and locked her account eversince.
StrayKids
So, JYP Entertainment recently has stirred up controversies due to their staff’s inappropriate
attitude and treatment toward fans and unfortunately, StrayKids and their fans are the ones to suffer.
Although the allegations below are not directly aimed at Straykids, they are still said to
have partly affected the boys' reputation.
Recently, on August 1st, one StrayKids fan participating in the recording of ISAC 2022
shared her bad working experience with the group’s staff.
She stated that she was the one to design the banner for the group but did not receive
the promised fee.
Previously, JYP Entertainment hired this fangirl to work as a designer for their projects and
the company promised to return the cost once the work was complete.
The fan used her own money to pay for everything, from the production and transportation cost
to all the other additional fees, which took her around 190.000 Korean Won, equal $150
yet received zero support from JYP.
Despite being let down by the poor attitude from the company, she still wanted to support
StrayKids and email JYP to ask whether they could set her up for a place at ISAC but did
not receive any response and ended up not attending the program.
Not stopping there, the agency also came under fire for another incident: STRAYKIDS’ staff
got accused of making rude remarks to fans at the recording of the show.
Specifically, some STAYs recalled being threatened by JYP staff members to read their letters
out loud if they did not stop filming on the recording day.
This action was regarded as unacceptable and unnecessarily rude to all the fans who dedicated
their time and effort to supporting their idols.
These allegations instantly came to the attention of other Kpop fans, they promptly poured scorn
over JYP for their unprofessional attitude and found it hard to understand how such a
big agency like JYP Entertainment could let their staff treat fans so disrespectfully.
In response to the accusations, JYP soon released an official statement apologizing for the
poor treatment that STAYs had to suffer during the recording of the show.
They started by apologizing to the fan involved in the banner controversy, sending a separate
apology email to her and reiterating their gratitude for her efforts.
The company also mentioned the allegations of their staff being rude to fans, confirming
this to be true.
They explained that the issue resulted from the incompetent handling of the situation
by a staff member of an external security company, whom they did not have direct control
over and did not personally train.
Yet, the company still admitted that they were equally at fault for their inability
to properly handle external staff members and promised to take more caution in future
events.
The timely and sincere apology from the agency was greatly complimented by netizens.
They made allowance for JYP since fans noted that the company should not be put at fault
for somebody else’s wrongdoings.
However, troubles struck once again when many fans sensed something fishy and accused JYP
of lying about the incident to cover up their irresponsibility, because they found out that
the staff member that JYP claimed to be from an external security company was actually
the one that has been working with StrayKids since debut.
Some disappointedly said that JYP Entertainment was clearly shirking off their responsibility
by blaming the incident on other people.
Regarding this latest accusation, the company still made no response until now.
However, whether this was true or not, fans are still hoping that JYP would retrain their
staff’s working manners as well as attitude to avoid ruining StrayKids’ reputation in
the future.
So, which accusations do you think are the most ridiculous?
To those who just attended ISAC 2022, are you satisfied with the way your idols treat
you?