By Danielle Broadway
OAKLAND, California (Reuters) – South Korean boy band Seventeen had followers chanting their names in Oakland, California final week as a part of their “Right Here” world tour to advertise the group’s 2024 album “17 Is Right Here.”
“I’ve been a Seventeen fan about six or seven years,” said Ruby Webb, a 21-year-old fan from Portland, Oregon.
“I love them [Seventeen] so much. S.Coups, Mingyu, Dino, they’re my babies,” she added.
Whereas there was pleasure, the followers often known as Carats, spoke concerning the current controversy with the South Korean firm HYBE, that oversees a number of Ok-Pop artists, together with standard teams BTS, NewJeans and Seventeen.
An inside doc that circulated amongst firm executives, together with HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, containing disparaging feedback about a number of of its Ok-pop teams was disclosed throughout a Nationwide Meeting audit on Oct. 24 by the South Korean Nationwide Meeting’s Tradition, Sports activities, and Tourism Committee.
The report was revealed by Korean popular culture critic Kang Myung Seok.
Within the doc, some Ok-pop teams, together with Seventeen, have been criticized for being “unattractive” and having “too much plastic surgery.”
This adopted a collection of different controversies within the business.
Ok-pop star Hanni, a member of the group NewJeans, made an attraction in October for higher remedy within the Ok-pop business throughout a parliamentary listening to.
Ok-pop idols are sometimes held to excessive requirements for his or her conduct and should keep a clear public picture, together with strain from followers to not have companions.
The corporate’s criticism of Seventeen instantly sparked backlash from Carats.
“I’m mostly disappointed,” mentioned Laura Munoz, 29, who traveled from Kansas to attend the live performance.
“You support a group, and their own company is not keeping them in mind and wanting to protect them, and being on their side,” she added.
For Webb, nevertheless, it is vital to focus extra on the music than the controversy.
“I’m just trying to have my focus and on the members, not a big huge conglomerate,” she mentioned.
Eden Johnson, 22, who attended the live performance with Webb dressed as a carrot, felt optimistic at her first Seventeen live performance.
“I just enjoy it, being at the concert that they [Seventeen] get to be happy in,” she added.
Seventeen member, Seungkwan, posted a response to the doc on Instagram in October, a number of days after it was launched.
“You have no right to easily insert yourselves into our narrative,” he wrote in Korean.
“This applies not just to us but to other artists as well. We are not your commodities to be used and enjoyed at will,” he added.
The South Korean group had final 12 months’s biggest-selling album globally.
Lee Jaesang, CEO of HYBE, issued an apology assertion from the South Korean firm that was shared with Reuters.
“I extend a formal apology to all external artists mentioned in the document,” Jaesang wrote in Korean.
“I am also in the process of contacting each label directly to apologize, and meeting with all of the HYBE music group’s artists, who are now facing criticisms for actions taken solely by the company,” he added.
Followers in Oakland arrived dressed as each carats and carrots, introduced posters of their favourite band members and handed out free handmade merchandise for different followers.
The U.S. portion of the tour started in Illinois in October and concluded in Los Angeles final Saturday and the group will now head to their Asia tour subsequent.
(This story has been corrected to make clear that Blackpink is just not a part of HYBE, in paragraph 4)
