Recently, social networks have been stirred up by a series of videos cut from the podcast Ab Above The Influence, with the participation of some influential people ( social media influencers), when they discuss the dark side of Kpop idol world.
In it, an influencer named Kira - claiming to be the ex-girlfriend of T.O.P (Big Bang) - accused famous Kpop singers and idols of engaging in high-end prostitution. Kira confirmed that she heard about IU "going out" for 500,000 USD/night.
Another influencer, Wootak, claimed to know the son of the BMW heir and was told, He was sleeping with Jennie Blackpink. He paid her and there was a clip. Wootak even admitted that he had seen Jennie's hot clip, so he believed it to be true.
These statements immediately caused outrage and were met with a "storm" of criticism from the Kpop fan community. Fans of Jennie and IU simultaneously called on the management company to take legal action to protect the artists' honor.
In response to the wave of criticism, the representative of Above The Influence program posted a correction. This group of people said that controversial videos are part of the "reward content" for those who pay for the fee, not for all audiences.
At the same time, he affirmed that those videos were edited, causing the audience to misunderstand that the program's production team made malicious comments and attacked Korean female artists.
The production team further explained: Most of you have never seen our regular content. We often discuss dark theories and plot theories, to clarify things that are often never brought to the mainstream media.
We have no intention of harming or defaming Jennie. We simply tell the stories we've heard and discuss how crazy it would be if it were true.
Finally, the show representative stated: "In any case, our group needs to apologize for spreading information unrelated to us on the internet.
I have no ill feelings for Jennie and always hope for her the best. I understand that even a repeat of this rumor could hurt her and I really apologize for that.
If you watch the whole set and still hate us, then don't worry. We apologize for what we have done wrong, but many of you are attacking us with untrue information.
As for Wootak - who made a shocking statement about Jennie - posted a separate explanation. He said that he simply repeated the story he had heard, because the topic of the conversation was the dark side of the Kpop industry, high suicide rates in idols and enslavement contracts. He emphasized that he had no intention of criticizing or attacking Jennie.
However, the explanations of the participants in the podcast show were not well received by the audience.
Kpop fans argue that influenced people who spread unverified information are acts of defaming the honor and dignity of others. We cannot use the "reported" excuse to justify this wrongdoing.
