According to Korea Joongang Daily, girl group i-dle, formerly (G)I-DLE, is being criticized for claiming that artists should be allowed to give unlimited free seats to their friends.
This comment was made by member Yuqi during an appearance with member Minnie on the online entertainment show "Salon Drip 2".
Responding to host Jang Do Yeon's question about Minnie spending 10 million won in personal money to invite 100 friends and acquaintances to the group's concert, Yuqi said: "There's something I don't understand. This is our concert, so I don't understand why the members have to buy tickets for themselves."
Yuqi added, We can only get 4 free tickets for each person and the rest we have to pay with our own bags.
When Jang Do Yeon asked why the members did not include a ticket clause in their contract with management company Cube Entertainment, Minnie replied, "I don't know why we didn't think about that. We have 3 more years left until we extend our contract, it is too late".
Netizens and fans immediately reacted negatively to the shares of the two i-dle members. They pointed out that it is inappropriate for members to be dissatisfied with spending money to invite friends and acquaintances, while fans have to spend large sums of money to attend the concert.
The members consider the concert to be all their own. How can they think that paying for tickets is unfair, when they are holding concerts with the participation of employees and many other officials of the company, and are supported by fans? - a comment was written.
Other comments said that many fans cannot attend concerts because they cannot buy tickets, but artists who are thinking should be provided with additional free tickets for acquaintances. This makes fans have to compete more in the fierce ticket hunting battle.
Previously, many concerts by Kpop and international artists held in Korea have caused controversy because there are too many invitations for celebrities.
Cube Entertainment's girl group debuted in 2018 under the name (G)I-DLE. Initially the group had 6 members, but in 2021, Soojin left the group due to a school bullying scandal. (G)I-DLE continues to perform with 5 members Miyeon, Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua. The group has gradually built a position, especially in Korea, with many hit songs such as " Latata", "Tomboy", "Nxde", "Queencard".
In early May this year, Cube Entertainment announced that (G)I-DLE changed its name to i-dle. The company explained: The letter G was removed from the groups name to restore the groups identity in a way that could not be determined by any gender. Removing the moniker in the name also means that future music and style releases will be limitless.
