By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
December 8, 2017
tl;dr I can’t think of one K-Pop group that I hate. And yet, something I never said got twisted into an ugly ball of lies. Here goes nothing…
🇰🇷🇰🇷🇰🇷
When I tweeted out this tidbit — which I thought was interesting, because it was so damned unusual — I didn’t expect the barrage of tweets from angry K-Pop fans, who assumed that I must be talking about their favorite band (or even odder, their fave Korean management company).
When I was in Korea recently, I was set to interview a well known idol who’s signed to one of the “Big Three.” The agency gave me a list of demands, including a promise that they would SUE ME (& I would be responsible for their legal fees) if I wrote anything negative.🤪pic.twitter.com/nClOhoPxwH
— Jae-Ha Kim 김재하 (@GoAwayWithJae) December 8, 2017
It became a thing, with bloggers such as Asian Junkie sharing their input:
And it sparked dialogue on Reddit. SeoulBeats covered it, too.
Though I hadn’t mentioned any names, various fandoms erroneously assumed I was paid by BTS to smear EXO and their agency, S.M.엔터테인먼트. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Why they would jump to that conclusion is beyond me, because EXO is a favorite in our household, as is BTS, Super Junior, Big Bang, HyunA, B1A4. Monsta X, Eric Nam etc.
My son really loves Big Bang, EXO (& non-KOP bands, too). But his #1 pick is BTS & Rap Monster.
— Jae-Ha Kim 김재하 (@GoAwayWithJae) August 16, 2017
But the ongoing hatred between some members of the two fandoms reminded me of this scene from “Reply 1997“:
For what it’s worth, this tweet from a BTS fan made me laugh, because it captured how ludicrous this whole thing had become:
🍵 So, grab a cup of tea and sit down for some fine reading about K-Pop fandoms: The good. The bad. And the ugly.
Then some BTS fans decided they wanted to sue me, too. Why? Who knows. But hey, Putria and Helena: How about you mind your own beeswax? 🐝
ARMY srsly we have to help exol sue this girl
Here 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/EaLsfMbPKe— Putria Andini (@Putria_an) December 9, 2017
exactly! And we hate that. We don’t want people who use Bts’ popularity for some bs tweet.
— 🌻Helena🌻 (@harbourlust_) December 10, 2017
At the end of the day, it’s worthwhile to realize that these unusual people are just a tiny fraction of a huge fandom that is full of millions of fans, the majority of whom don’t cause drama just for the hell of it.
It was heartening to hear from people who felt strongly about the freedom of the press, as well as other reporters who had been offered these bizarre contracts and turned them down, because … journalism.
As for the others, who think journalists should just be press release machines, I hope they will grow out of that train of thought.
@GoAwayWithJae Super appreciate you sticking to your guns & not conceding to such ridiculous demands. Love, one of the many music journalists in Korea who have to deal with this BS.
— 크리스티나 says… ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ (@CurlyFourEyes) December 10, 2017
You did right. As a PR veteran I can assess that PR functions very differently in Korea. To their defense: they have insufficient ‘resources’ as in know-how, to be proactive, so they are mostly reactive (as in covering their a…) ..with exceptions of course.#takekrmagazine
— ellie perla TAKE-KR (@ellieperla) December 11, 2017
I’ve had the same experience with a non Big Three agency. I totally understand your POV! 👍🏻
— Veronica💋. (@Very86) December 11, 2017
I’m proud of your journalistic integrity! My degree is in PR and yes, reporting and PR are very different and it’s SO important that reporting IS NOT public relations. Thank you!!
— Little Mama (@LRiskus) December 11, 2017
I feel like an journalist would be giving up their integrity if they signed that contract. Negative is such a subjective term. People have a habit of taking a part of a dialogue to fit their narrative so anything you write could be misconstrued for another’s benefit.
— Ivory Blue (@Fiery_Abyss_) December 8, 2017
This exol really had the guts to say all those words to a journalist. I’m laughing so hard 🤣 confidence level: way up in the sky 👏🏻 i like how you replied 🙌🏻 @GoAwayWithJae pic.twitter.com/yS8XIfrkRH
— annleigh (@leeannleigh) December 8, 2017
— 민 윤기verse (@chungoogie) December 10, 2017
© 2017 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved
EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT:
The Epik Highs and Lows of Tablo
“Squid Game” Is a Social Allegory Informed by Korean History
Go Away With … PSY
How “All of Us Are Dead” Uses a Zombie Attack to Examine Korean & Global Issues
Go Away With … Rap Monster (of BTS)
K-drama Adoption Storylines Are Making Positive Strides, But There’s More Work to Do
lmao You people are delusional. She’s not a stan and you idiots are thinking that an actual grown woman with a job and a family is sitting there keeping tabs on sm and their roster. Korea’s defamation laws are crazy as are all of you that want to sue her. Good luck suing a reporter for an American newspaper. I do hope this goes to court so she can say which asshole agency it was and which lame group it was and then sue each and every one of you for the lies you’ve spread. The majority of you don’t have the guts to say anything without hiding behind a fake twitter account that has a photo of your bias. You’d probably pee your pants if you had to face her in court. Bye losers.
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t she tweet stuff about BTS because she had written about them and also because they were all over the media during the U.S. recently? It’s not like it was just random. So these twats expect her to tweet about every single KPOP boy band just to make it equal? Yeah, when they appear on Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen and James Cordon and perform on the AMAs and all that, I’m sure she’s be happy to tweet stuff about them, too.
Also, how lazy are the fans that they can’t be bothered to check that she is not a KPOP writer. She writes about celebrities, most of them Americans and most of the people she writes about aren’t even musicians. Jesus Christ, she has written about swimmers and famous reporters and authors and actors who actually won Oscars. So excuse me with this “EXO wouldn’t want to be interviewed by her” bullshit.
Newsflash: The U.S. media doesn’t give a fuck about your oppas unless they’re actually doing something relevant to the U.S. So when EXO does something on the scale of BTS, then I’m sure she will write about them.
All this whining about a BTS photo as her cover photo. No one said shit when it was G Dragon or Girls Generation. Yeah, I remember. But all you haters don’t ’cause you just swarmed over to protect your oppas over some perceived slight. Honest to god you all so stupid.
These are the same morons who blame the women for getting raped by their precious oppars. It boggles my mind how stupid some of these kids are. They have no concept of reality and will protect their precious oppars at all costs.
No one cares about their stupid fan wars except their weird little niche groups. To think that they expect a grown woman to keep tabs on their stupid fan wars is crazy. I’ll say it, they come off bat shit crazy!
Exo is a really good band that I feel sorry for because their fans are horrible.
Newspaper reporter here. If Jae’s experiences are anything like mine, she has probably had to fight to get in coverage of Asian performers. The default is white. Once you print a story on a particular minority, the consensus is that it has been done already and that there is no need to cover another Asian band. I don’t doubt that she may face resistance in featuring another KPOP act, as her editors will remember that they already featured a Korean act. She writes for newspapers, not a Korean music magazine.
As for people suggesting that she is writing about BTS for clicks, look around her website. There’s not an ad to be found. Getting clicks wouldn’t help her become rich at all.
If you’re only takeaway after reading her tweet and this article is that she is wrong, you are a certifiable moron. Korean agencies are famous for trying to control the media and she showed strength in not putting up with their shit.
Nice job kpoppies. She’s probably never going to write about KPOP again. Good job being immature brats.
To every one of you who has no concept of how the world works outside of your stupid fantasy and your “oppars,” listen up. She’s not writing for a Korean rag. She’s writing for a major U.S. publication. To you morons who keep harping on the fact that your oppars don’t need her press, yes they do if they want to be known outside of Korea, which they all do. Just the fact that this agency was trying to negotiate with her shows how much they wanted that press for their your stupid oppars in her outlets. If they didn’t need her, they would’ve ignored her or said “No” right away. If she had done something to harm one of their other acts 😂 like some of you are accusing, why would they even negotiate with her? If they really don’t need her and if she really had done something horrible (like point out that they were butt ugly) to one of their acts in the past, they would’ve just told her to get lost.
To all of you who thinks that bullying journalists into signing shit like this is normal, go to your godammed high school newspaper editor and ask them and your teacher will tell you that it is NOT normal and it is not good for anyone.
Their heads will explode when it’s announced that somes of their oppars are gay. I have nothing against gay people and hope they will accept them but of course they won’t because no matter what they say they have dreams of marrying oppar. There’s a gay one in every boy band it seems, like even N Sync and the Backstreet Boys had gay members right?
I don’t even get why these fans were mad. She didn’t say who it was so why are they assuming it’s their band? Weirdos.
EXO SM need to get a restraining order from their “fans.” They crazier than a straw!
I wonder if i’ll face the same problem if I become journalist one day….
It doesn’t matter if she likes BTS or EXO or who your bias is. Demanding that journalists only write favorable articles is reprehensible and reflects badly on the management and their artists.
I love EXO and so many EXO-Ls are wonderful people. They have millions of fans and the hate Mrs. Kim thank you for recognizing that they are just a small percentage of immature stans. They do not reflect what the rest of us feel. I hope you do not hold them against us.
Is it ok that your saying this here in twitter? There’s a possibility that some of their talents fans see this and tell them this.They will sue you for exposing their stinky behavior
Do any of these idiots know that Jae-Ha Kim is not a KPop columnist? LOL! For the reading impaired who were quick t o join their fellow idiots in their attacks, put on your thinking caps just like you do in kindergaten, morons. She has profiled actual movie stars and rock stars and astronauts and Trump’s daughter. I doubt she’s knocking on the Big 3’s door to get an interview with someone that no one cares about in her market.
It’s so funny that they are upset over what is essentially a blind item. No one outside of their kpop world gives a fuck about their stupid biases. Some Americans know who BTS is because they’ve been in the news and on TV so much recently. But EXO or whatever bias they’re whining about. It’s not like they’re Taylor Swift or even One Direction who is famous worldwide. The nerve of them to say that any U.S. journalist is too low on the totem pole to get an interview with their oppas.
I stan people who speaks the truth. Honestly i think honesty is kind of rare right now- but you my girl *standing ovation*
What a bunch of hate-filled stupid little bitches. Do you know what they do in Korea? Compile these tweets, track down their parents, and make the little cun7s read them in front of their parents and school. My uncle knows a good detective. Let me know if you want to pursue this. The parents will be shamed and these brats won’t get into any good school (not that they sound bright enough to anyhow). All over their idiocy and lack of reading comprehension.
I help too. Excuse English but I am not good at it yet. The crazy fan are crazy. I am Exo and BTS fan but for their music, not because I want to marry them. I do not like fandoms because they crazy like these girls. Fighting Mrs.!
I agree with you but I don’t think you should sink to their level and use that kind of language. Just my opinion.
OK I see your point and I don’t talk that way often but that is how they talk down to her. They think they’re so aware of Korean culture and that their oppas love them for loving Korea and they don’t show any respect for an older adult who is doing great work. All these fans want to do is sleep with their oppas.
I didn’t want to be me one to tell all the delusional kids this but newsflash, no one cares about Kpop. 🙄
Scratch that. A comparatively small percentage do, but if you really think that a journalist who has interviewed Matt Damon, Keanu Reeves, and Kevin Bacon will get a bonus at work for interviewing whoever the fuck is in Exo, you are sadly mistaken. Their songs aren’t played on the radio, they don’t appear on our TV shows, they just don’t matter. If she was working for a Korean publication, it’d be different. But she’s an American writing for big name American publications.
Walk up to someone at Starbucks and ask them if they know who Taylor Swift is. Then ask them if they know who the hell Exo is.
There’s your answer.
You kids are insane. I hope you study hard and get smarter. Go back to picking your nose.
You do the right thing by no no-ing those, when everyone is afraid to do so. Respect
Like my grandmother used to say, ” wait until you get to be my age”. And she was right!😉 May all the good spread, be recognized and be copied !
they called they love suing right…..well screen cap…and sm will do the rest 😂
SM’s gonna sue her because you want them to?😂Where’s my popcorn?!
Bitch, suing is a great idea. I suggest Ms. Kim sue all of you who are slandering her name because of something you THINK she implied.
Use your brain. Do you think your oppa’s company is going to want to get tangled up with the lawyers at her employers, who are just as rich as your oppa’s company? Check out what the United Nations has to say about Korea’s ridiculous defamation laws.
However, Ms. Kim can sue all you idiots for libel and slander.
So, gather all 4 of your Twitter followers and play with your Pororo dolls and pretend you’re going to be Mrs. Exo one day.
She has four followers?!! She’s out there barking like a big shot when she’s a yappy chihuahua.
But they all love their oppas! They’re too stupid to know that Korean men cringe when stans call them oppa. They want to hear oppa from their girlfriends, who they have to hide because they crazy girls will stalk the poor girlfriends.
How’s that lawsuit going? You better call them again. Wait, hang on here, they already know about her and gave her an interview with Lay. It’s in the L.A. Times.
………It happens all over the world. No one wants their artists being asked who they’re sleeping with. Why did you expect this commonality to not be common in South Korea? How is it an extreme?
When has she ever asked who anyone is sleeping with? Go on. I’ll just drink my tea while I wait.
I never heard of EXO until I searched for them. I thought they were some kind of international railway systems. I don’t know how that group of outraged children jumped to all those conclusions, but let’s hope they actually are 11 or 12, like they appear to be. It would be a sad state of the world if these commentors were college age or older. Regardless of age, they did not have very good parenting.
What I do know about famous, popular, rich men is that they date and marry who are as good looking or better looking than they are. These children don’t stand a chance against Korea’s famous models and actresses and sports figures.
“It happens all over the world.”
Girllll, you dumb as a sack of rocks!!! lmao Grow a brain before you try to formulate another sentence. Idiot.
You’re stupid. End of story.
Please tell me you did not agreed to interview them and you walked out!
Omg you are so funny 😂😂😂😂…seeing your answers ..wanted an interview…biii..!your ten second of fame on Twitter will be your life achievement ..congratulation!
congratulations too for being this low lol have you read her profile bio or are you high on something girl ? 😴
Yes…! And ? Let’s find another 10288 reporters that work on these big companies..and talk like this on Twitter! What a great journalist. And the fact that yall can’t see that she is supporting what is trending ? These people don’t even care! And yall rush to support her.
lol whats trending tho ? 😂 Shes already has a career that can support her so if she wants to add the variety to it then why not ?
btw theres nothing wrong supporting someone who supports ur fave 🙂 youre just being butthurt here haha pegi tidolah budak
You notice how all these morons saying Jae just wants attention are the ones who tag her to make sure that she’ll pay attention to them? tldr they stupid.
Jae’s answer is gold! That stalker girl came off like a moron.
You’re done, girl! You can’t compete with that pea brain of yours! You eggos are stupid.
Are you enjoying your “fame” with all your other odd exols? lol The difference is she doesn’t need exo. She has already talked to the best. That’s right, egg, the best is bts.
Look like the kindergaten set is having a tantrum!! 😛
That stan is too stupid to even know to reply to a queen. Sit back down, child. The grown ups are talking.
I’m not a SM Stan sorry and also I’m completely unpressed, only wondering what is so shocking about the demands😉
You are viewing this as a fan who will do anything to meet your favorite star. If you had the chance to meet them, you would probably cry and ask for a hug or an autograph or a selfie with them. If their company had all fans sign a contract that you couldn’t talk to them, you would do it because you desparately want to meet that band, right? And you would comply and just wave Hi silently and motion with your phone for a picture but you woudln’t talk to them because you don’t want to anger the company and get kicked out of the fan signing.
That’s what fans do and that’s fine. That’s not what journalists do.
This is how business works? Then that’s sad. No genuineness exists anymore and all journalists are tied to only show what the company wants to portray about these groups. What was offered in the contract is a technical disguise for a threat or even mediaplay.
That EXO dummy doesn’t now how anything works, much less business. lmao
Doesn’t know how to spell either. Huny? cringe
💕 I have one knee that makes noise when I go up the stairs and one knee that makes noise when I go down the stairs. 🤣
I feel bad, she does amazing work, has always been transparent and open for dialogue with readers, and yet while she didn’t mention which company/idol, a certain fandom is already trash talking her for this.🙄
It is pathetic and pitiful that these stupid girls think American reporters should bend to a Korean agency’s whims to get an interview with someone that few in America ever even heard of. I don’t care how big you think Exo is. They’re not famous around the world like Taylor Swift or One Direction. The only Kpop group that has a chance of breaking into America is BTS which is why AMERICANS are writing about them instead of Exo.
Blink if it was SM and eggo
damn is this journalist sassy i love https://twitter.com/GoAwayWithJae/status/939362586403000320 …
She’s so great. If I were her I’d sue these bitches or at least curse at them. But she is way too smart to be bothered by that. She’s letting them show their true colors. I’m sure their teachers and parents will love to read how they talk to their elders.
You dont have to thank me dear. We’re meant to protect one another. I wont get into the drama but i will not tolerate anyone who is gonna bash you for no reason. I will surely be your bodyguard if youre in US next year 😂 Enjoy your weekend too💕💕
You are easily one of the most stupid people I have ever had the displeasure of interacting with. Every other journalist doesn’t sign crazy contracts like this. She’s not Korean media, you dumbass. She writes for the freaking Los Angeles Times, which is in the United States of America. I don’t care what Koreans do in Korea, but American journalists do not sign this kind of garbage.
Let me ask you this, Miss know it all. Who are you and how are you so special? Oh, you’re not. Just another anonymous idiot who is too stupid to know you’re an idiot. Keep on sucking up to the Big three and maybe they’ll let you near one of their boys. Oh wait, no they won’t because you’re a nobody.
Ignore her. I hope she learns how real life works one day. She probably has no idea that BB King is an actual legend, rather than her oppas. LOL! Stupid stan.
I’m curious why you think she should write about ALL Kpop? Also, why are you so ignorant? I hope you are in middle school and will grow up to have a better understanding of the law and journalism. Have a good day.
Why don’t you do your research Gia? BTS isn’t the first KPOP group she ever wrote about. She wrote about the Wonder Girls in 2010 and PSY in 2012 because they were doing things in the U.S. that her readers would be interested in. Why would she write about KPOP groups that Americans couldn’t care less about? You’re just pressed Sis because your faves aren’t doing well in the U.S. When they do something here, I’m sure she’ll write about them too.
EXO is an OK band but EXOLs are horrible. No wonder you all have such a horrible reputation.
That guy who told you to eat shit is @oneonefanfan on Twitter and says his name is Joshua Brendon. He has a public Twitter account and a public Instagram account and says he graduated from college and loves God! LOL! Another Christian hypocrite. His mom and dad are on Instagram and I’m sure would love to see what he is tweeting to women!
Yikes. Good luck getting a job.
He says lewd and sexist things to a woman but then goes and pretends to be all pious. What a good fake Christian he is. How would you like it if some foul man called your mother a whore? Brendon is a sexist pig. EXO should kick him out of the fandom because boys like him are vile.
This is what he wrote on IG
First and foremost I would like to give all my praises and thanks to the God Almighty. Without Him, I wouldn’t have made it this far. He’s the sole reason why I am still alive and fighting.
I would like to thank God, for giving me friends who have nothing but love and support for me. My dear friends, thank you. I love each and everyone of you.
Thank you God for blessing me with a beautiful family. We may not be perfect but we know what’s up. I am forever grateful for having loving parents. This is for you Mama and Papa.
Thank you God for my wonderful stay in Letran. Thank you for blessing me with great professors and advisers. Thank you for sending me to the Psychology Program. Thank you for bringing me to LPFA.
This is Joshua Brendon, a Psychology Major, a former “Muse/Escort” of Letran Peer, the current Vice President for External Affairs of Letran Peer, a Letran student, now signing off. +🇵🇭💙🖤❤️🇵🇭+ PS. I did it in black because you know how I don’t like normal things 🖤
Joshua Brendon should be ashamed of himself. We Filipinos know English better than that. He is an embarrassment to his people. Also, BTS is better than EXO so suck on that Joshua.
Can someone tell me why 🍳 think it’s clever to take someone’s tweet and rewrite it? It’s not clever or original. In this case they were saying things like “When I was in Korea and Lay was choking me” and their idiot followers thought that was so funny. Englighten me. Why is this funny? Is it funny because they’ll never be in Korea and if they were to go there they would never have access to their oppars? Is this an AU or something they do? It’s just really stupid and unoriginal. Maybe they get that from their idols.
🍳 don’t have an original thought in their head. I’d say it’s a good thing they have their looks but then I’d be lying. No wonder everyone thinks kpop fans are still in diapers. These fans are an embarrassment.
She did the right thing,not a single doubt about it. The pissed off fans should shove their pitchforks up their you-know-where.
Also I recalled an incident. When ‘Eat your Kimchi’ was still doing kpop stuff,I remember they interviewed a SM group, SHINee maybe (could be wrong). Even after weeks there was no sign of the interview so people were asking about the interview and when in would be uploaded and Simon and Martina basically replied that the company had asked back the footage and ‘they’ would review and edit it and give it back to EYK to upload, hence the delay. I dunno if that interview ever got uploaded,but the whole think made me dumbfounded…like wtf. What was the point of the interview then…..
A new day, a new saga between the Great War of EXO-Ls and BTS.
Welp, what else could you expect of company stans, they’re the fucking worst. This is sad.
“Why hire a PR company when you can strong-arm a journalist into doing it for free!”
*insert Roll Safe (a.k.a. black guy pointing finger at his head) meme here*
I’m a huge fan of SHINee but when Why so serious came out I was not that into it. At least the fandom at the time understood that. You can’t possibly like every song even if it is your bias. And of people claim they do they are lying. But I do look for consistency that’s why I’m still a fan of SHINee. Overall I like most of their music. But I can’t say I like it all.
Lawsuit threats are too much, but the Hallyu Wave is already known for its draconian publicists whenever Korean celebrities met the overseas print press. Even phone interviews are micromanaged, with a minder usually listening in on another line.
It’s part of their media culture. To be fair, their online press (which forms the bulk of Kpop coverage) reciprocate just as apathetically, usually assigning interns to monitor press releases & then publish these articles verbatim after adding their own headlines. Meanwhile, idol singers rarely give interviews outside of official promotions, usually agree to meet only senior reporters when they do, yet treat these sessions more as public relations than proper journalism. Only established music critics get to write in their own voice.
I remember many years ago, a journalist was conducting an interview with Ryeowook for his musical and reported that SM only wanted a pre-selected/pre-filtered set of questions to be asked. Iirc this particular reporter had never interviewed an idol before, and was critical of such practice. I also recall complaints by foreign media that press conferences for Korean actors and musicians are very tightly controlled when they visit overseas. Don’t know anyone was ever threatened with a lawsuit before, but it wouldn’t surprising to me for that to be common practice either. This seems to suit the taste of fans because they don’t want to read anything but rainbows and unicorns either. The agencies and fans both feed this ridiculous practice and reinforce each other, just another form of circle jerk.
A friend of mine got the same request from one of BigThree™ when they started their travel business. She said NO, eventhough she was a major fan. Idk if these fans demographic is the same with those who accused Jeff got bribed w merch and goodie bags. I feel sorry for anyone who spent their precious time to handle stantwitter.
Also, I respect Kim Jae Ha for her bravery tweeting her experience. The companies behind hallyu/kpop must learn that journalist dont work as their ink slave. Coming from the country that had been under censorship for years (look KBS is still on strike til now), the industry too should move forward.
she did nothing wrong and it’s not about journalist writing false accusations on purpose, it’s literally like big companies don’t allow honest opinion lol istg some fans are just too blindly supporting a company which is dumb
also those people prob bashed her bc she likes bts, and it all makes sense
I thought she was a Day6 fan just from the name, I didn’t look into her.
p sure she likes a few groups including bts, and now the hate is just biased
think that’s just her own real name.
mob mentality and hive mind is disturbing
One thing I’ve noticed about K-Pop interviews is that quotations are sometimes attributed to the group as a whole instead of an individual member. That must mean some kind of intervention by the company but it is treated as perfectly normal.
Blindly supporting anything is just stupid, it’s not “protecting” the artists if they aren’t receiving constructive criticism to help them grow… it’s completely doing the opposite.
Yeah it does suck when journalists aren’t being sycophantic (I mean I would like it if everyone praised Jessica’s music) but seeing the variation in opinions is much better for discourse about any group compared to seeing “YAAAAAAAAAS OMFG SLAYYY!!! WIG SNATCHED!!” constantly.
THIS. I had to bring this point up to someone who told people not to post negative comments on NCT 127’s “Cherry Bomb” release because “They worked hard on it and it might discourage them.” How they hell are they supposed to grow if they’re never told about things they can improve on. I’m sure they’d rather hear constructive criticism than a bunch of blind praise from people who don’t know shit about music.
But this article proves most fans aren’t capable of objective criticism so I guess I wasted my breath.
Since many cancerous Twitterstans & KPOPfans only have a subjective and biased opinion I’m not surprised at all. People can’t even criticize a group\ song without getting bash of fans who can’t think they Idols are so sad about it. IT SUCKS
For me it’s scandalous that a company who is one of the biggest company do something like this, shouldn’t we think firstly why a company do that instead to bash her?
A part of this is also why we can’t have meaningful reviews to most kpop songs from popular groups and call a shit song shit. You’ll be branded a hater, ostracised and bombarded before you even know it hence all the bloody perky youtube videos talking roses out of their asses about shit songs
Take notes, netizenbuzz. This is what journalistic integrity looks like.
This reminds me of DKDKTV (have they been covered here on AJ?) being dragged to hell and back for having an opinion on the songs they react to. If fans can’t handle an opinion, they really shouldn’t watch/read reviews or reactions…
They’re seriously my fav. reactors because they haven’t been on YouTube for long but have already offended all the major fandoms out there lol – and all they had to do for that was present their opinion as Koreans that know kpop better than us. Fans cant handle it when they express their disappointment in certain songs – but tbh most things they’ve said have been reflected in the groups’ performances this year.
…
And they try to give their opinion from that standpoint – which is the whole fckng point of their ‘Koreans react to kpop’ videos. One of them is a kpop fan but even he isn’t that invested in anyone other than BIGBANG…and what they say is a pretty accurate representation of kpop fans and general public in Korea (I mean – duh, no shit it is) – which is what I meant – like, I’m p.sure they can give us more insight about the way kpop groups are doing in Korea than us fans from outside…
I think I’ve said this before. These kind of kpop fans need brush up on their comprehension skills. Set aside some time for reading, fanfics don’t count. Because I think most of them completely missed the point of why the journalist declined.. i think some of them didn’t even understand that no interview happened?
Some actually fully believe the poor big company is being completely fair. “They forthed their conditions and she chose to not agree with them. That’s it!”
fair in basically threatening a journalist to write only good things about their idol?
Yeah, I can see where they’re coming from. /s
Well, this lady certainly doesn’t work for Dispatch.
Unfortunately, more and more of the music “journalists” are little more than stenographers at this point. The big companies have quite a bit of leverage in that they can just simply freeze access to its artists. If you write something that is perceived as negative, boom, there goes your access. However, I wasn’t aware of the vague pre-condition about suing the actual writer! The typical corporate propaganda campaign is ridiculous enough, but they can really dial up the heat to 11 in certain situations, probably one of the more infamous ones involving a hit piece on Jessica with anonymous sources and no receipts (and no interviews with the Jess camp) in 2014.
The companies should protect its artists and respond to death threats, crazy rumors, etc., but the MAX STENOGRAPHY stuff is plain bullshit. And some of these companies seem to have a knack for harnessing it as a real weapon when needed.
i hope those people making those arguments are still kids that will grow out of their immaturity soon, because it gives me a headache to think that there are such blindsighted and brainwashed people voicing their opinions like this.
Journalists are frequently given a list of “don’t ask” questions or topics when interviewing a celebrity, but that is completely different than saying you can’t write anything negative or we’ll sue (and having to pay for the litagation fees against yourself?!). Part of being a journalist is getting around those questions to still extract relevant information and insight into the interviewees personality. It’s pretty insane that people would think these two approaches are similar in any way and could possibly be okay with suing someone over perspective.
Exactly I think some of the people agreeing with the company are mixing these things together
People really don’t realise how deeply committed these fans are to protecting oppar and unnir. The company might be the first line in PR Defence for groups but fans are right next to the company.
Everything about the group is tightly controlled like everyone mentioned. Subbing teams will not translate anything that might paint a member in a bad light. They will scream mistranslation if anything falls through their systems.
Things like Vlives are edited before being uploaded. Korean speakers will report a video if they notice anything on problematic on it. That is why sometimes, there are delays on reuploaded.
Fans will scrub everything that they think might affect the group. Remember SONEs wiping out that video where Jessica was allegedly molested.
It is always interesting to see the early stages of a Kpop scandal cause you see what the fandom echo chamber will decide on to protect their favs.
The funny thing here it’s that we all know that this does happen but we all know who where the ones getting more defensive about this. Simon and Martina were told to not upload their SHINee interview and they did, we all know that SM doesn’t allow questions about their ex artists, YG only let’s their artist’s talk about their controversies when he can media play it on his favour.
K-pop fans love fake validation, and if someone talks good about their faves the will shower them with love but if they don’t…
“I had assumed most K-pop fans would understand why she refused and why she wanted to make it public . . .”
Expecting people to be reasonable? Ha! How on Earth do people continue to have that kind of optimism? I’m so envious.
I saw several tweets from kpop stan defending Big 3 and I realized how dumb kpop fandom can be.
I have to keep telling myself that ‘most kpop fans are still in junior high/senior high school’ to ease myself. I mean, why would they stan company? What is it to stan? Why do they blindly defend them?
They don’t even see this as violation towards freedom of speech.
Hate to take away that little bit of hope but reddit just had a census where the strong majority are college aged (single and relatively jobless, mind you) and they still did this.
not gonna deny that there are articles out there with the intent to defame whoever but like she explained negative is a subjective assessment and this goes to the extent of compromising her integrity. also, aren’t slander-y articles usually random pieces? like super subjective opinions on big scandals or questioning specific achievements? she was set to actually interview an idol and from what i’ve seen, you rarely extract the type of malicious material that these fans worry about from that?
Exactly, a majority of the really purposefully negative articles are clickbait articles thrown out for the purpose of either pissing people off or reinforcing people’s negative opinions on a celebrity and they’re usually twisting words out of context or using unverified rumors to do it. You only need a little bit of reading comprehension to figure out if the journalist is giving their actual opinion or if it’s written to just to get clicks.
true. in the end, those articles get written without idol company’s approval so i’m more inclined to believe this is more of “hey, don’t publish anything that just might compromise or critique this image we have for ‘x’ going on. also, pls don’t say our song suxxs” than taking action against outright slander?
Honestly, I’m still in kpop fandom because I need validation that I’m not the saddest human in existence.
Not surprised. Oppar’s happiness is more relevant than your nugu journalist integrity!!!!
It’s official. Kpop has become a cult now. And I agree with why they didn’t agree to this. Saying if you write something negative really can be subjective. Could cause problems over something not actually seen as negative.
korean libel laws are messed up
Journalistic objectivity? What’s that? PROTECT OPPAR AT ALL COSTS!
It’s mentioned in this article, which made it past Vox Media’s lawyers.
Just because throwing lawsuit threats into emails with journalists sounds absolutely batshit to YOU does not mean it doesn’t happen. Korean media culture is apparently different.
If the idea of journalists being threatened with lawsuits for writing factual stories bothers you, please direct your efforts toward protecting free speech laws in your own country.
I’m all for making fun of company stans, especially “big 3 stans” so this is a great post.
I think there’s a large segment of Big Hit company stans brewing and they’ll be just as annoying when the time comes. Probably compounded by the fact that so many of them are kboo i-fans in their early 10s… Basically capitalism wins again and again.
I’m actually proud of her. K-Pop stans are just ridiculous sometimes, I’m glad I turned my stanning down the older I got
It’s a good thing my petty ass isn’t a journalist, hoo boy.
I’m still surprised as to why this thing became an issue in the first place. When the first journalist made that tweet, I thought it was a known fact. Anyone who has been into Kpop for some time and doesn’t see everything with rose-tinted glasses would know that it’s how things work in the kpop-industry. But then (crazy) fans did what they do best and made an issue. And it’s confusing how we read the same straight forward statement and they draw completely different conclusion from it!
Anyway I just ordered a bunch of face sheet marks yesterday….don’t feel to good after reading that article. 🙁
seihunnie20 said:
The point is SHE wanted the interview. The company was GIVING her something. Why is that so hard to understand?
If you’re GIVING someone something THEY WANT, you expect something in return. The journalist was getting an interview with a most-likely top tier, highly sought-after idol. Of course the company would want something in return, in this case positive attention.
Your comparison to company’s paying for positive product reviews is not the same thing. The kpop company did not go after this journalist and say “hey, we’ll pay you 5,000 dollars to say nice things about ___”
—-
Riddle me this, seihunnie20: Why on earth would you think she wants to talk to an idol that may be famous is Korea but has no relevance to the U.S. where she works? Dpesn’t it seem more likely that their agency saw BTS’s success and is hoping for the same for their boy band and is contact journlists who have a track record of interviewing KPOP groups?
This oneonefanfan guy presents as gay on his IG. I always thought gay people would have more compassion since they have been prejudiced against for so long but this just goes to show there are ignorant and stupid people in all areas of life and the world. I hope he doesn’t become a psychologist like he studied beccause he could mess people up with his hate.
THIS! I am embarrassed for my generation that people don’t believe in freedom of the press and think that journalists should be shills for the Big 3. It’s just sad. Hopefully these children will be potty trained and then grow up to be normal adults.
This is so interesting and helps clear up for me why so many interviews and articles about my faves read like press releases (I read an interview with SHINee’s Taemin recently that could have been done by his mom it was so puffy). This is kind of a dehumanizing process IMO, I like seeing the person behind the art I enjoy, flaws and all.
just read the other day on nb that one exo-l got called out by a journalist after demanding that he take down an article about EXO he wrote.
#pressfreedom
I’m going to make a thread of KPOP articles written by Jae-Ha Kim since this whole mess and see if a SM act shows up. LOL!
Here’s the one she wrote about BTS in June 2017 in the Chicago Tribune.
https://www.jaehakim.com/wp-content/uploads/9999/12/RAP-MONSTER-PDF_BTS.pdf
Wonder Girls, JYP
Chicago Tribune
PSY, YG Entertainment
Chicago Tribune
San E in LA Times
Brand New Music / JYP
https://www.latimes.com/travel/cruises/sns-201804100001–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20180410-20180410-story.html
BTS, Big Hit, in Rolling Stone magazine
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-bts-are-breaking-k-pops-biggest-taboos-628141/
Eric Nam, Stone Music Entertainment, in Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/sns-201806120017–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20180612-20180612-story.html
Tiffany Young, formerly of SM
Rolling Stone Magazine
https://www.jaehakim.com/entertainment-reviews/music-reviews/tiffany-young_girls-generation-rolling-stone/
Monsta X (Starship Entertainment) in Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/sns-201807030023–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20180703-20180703-story.html
James Lee in the LA Times
Universal Music Korea
https://www.latimes.com/travel/cruises/sns-201808070032–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20180807-20180807-story.html
Tiffany Young, SM Entertainment (because they manage Girls’ Generation of which she’s still a part of) and Paradigm
Los Angeles Times:
https://www.latimes.com/travel/cruises/sns-201809180006–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20180918-20180918-story.html
Lay, SM Entertainment, in Los Angeles Times:
https://www.latimes.com/travel/cruises/sns-201810160010–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20181016-20181016-story.html
Amber Liu, SM Entertainment
LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/travel/cruises/sns-201811130000–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20181113-20181113-story.html
Gu is 9
LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/travel/cruises/sns-201902191201–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20190219-20190219-story.html
I’m slow with these because I’ve been busy but here’s more I found!
ATEEZ (KQ Entertainment)
Los Angeles Times, https://www.latimes.com/sns-201903120002–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20190312-20190312-story.html
M.O.N.T. (FM Entertainment)
LA Times, https://www.latimes.com/sns-201903190000–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20190319-20190319-story.html
Epik High (formerly YG)
LA Times, https://www.latimes.com/sns-201903260002–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20190326-20190326-story.html
BTS (Big Hit)
Variety, https://variety.com/2019/music/asia/album-review-bts-map-of-the-soul-persona-1203187961/
Blackpink (YG)
Variety, https://variety.com/2019/music/news/blackpink-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-k-pop-sensations-1203188594/
Perfume (J-Pop but still)
Variety, https://variety.com/2019/music/news/perfume-j-pop-coachella-influences-1203193723/
So that was EXO huh? Well they sucked. No wonder their fans are so paranoid about bad things being written about them. That was the best Korea could serve up?
They weren’t that bad but they weren’t great. The best would’ve been BTS or Psy.
I just found this thread and wow. May I ask what proof there is that Ms. Kim hates EXO and SM? I have looked around and saw none. If anything Ms. Kim is a strong supporter of Korean culture and actively promotes many Korean musicians. She is the only one in the Chicago publications who is doing so. These unusual fans should be careful because once she stops, who will write about our Korean groups.
There is none. The crazys made it up to cause drama.
🙄
LOL you’re incredibly stupid. She’s not a K Pop writer and she has literally written about thousands of people but you be you. The smart answer to the question would be that her followers love her stories about BTS and Korean dramas. But you’re too busy up in your girl groups’ ass to be capable of thinking about more than your unnirs.
You’re probably not capable of critical thinking but BTS is the only band that’s had critical and commerecial success in the USA. So why wouldn’t she write about them? Sorry but your faves aren’t doing well enough in the states to be covered by mainstream media. No need to hate.
But she’s not a kpop writer so why should she write about people who are irrelevant to her market? The only reason BTS is being covered is because they’re relevant.
Layla just wants attention which is why I didn’t respond to her on Twitter. She’s just a clout chaser and wants to drum up anger to feed her tl.
Lol that Layla is a BTS hater and she can’t seem to tweet about anything else but hating BTS.
Layla is a Tiffany Young stan. Hey Layla, guess who’s following Jae on Twitter? Tiffany Young.
Jealous? You should be.
Fany is following Jae on Twitter AND instagram. I’m sure she’s following Layla too. lmao
lmao excellent!
Yawn. Another illiterate kpoppie.
Besides BTS a quick search of her work shows she has also written about
Wonder Girls
Psy
EXO
Eric Nam
San E
Super Junior
Amber Liu
Monsta X
Tiffany Young
Gu Is 9
and she tweeted out that she has an interview ATEEZ coming out soon
But yes let’s spread your lie that she only writes about BTS. She can’t help it readers are most intersted in the articles about BTS. Sorry your faves aren’t doing so well, hon.
I’ll make this simple so all the young crazy SM stans can understand: Tiffany Young is following Jae on Twitter. I think she’s the only reporter Tiff is following. Girls’ Generation was started by SM. So all you haters can suck it!
girl don’t get exols started. they still harass Taeyeon for dating Baekhyun. They’re just toxic fans.
She interviewed Tiffany Hwang too who’s on SM.
She’s not on SM anymore but she’s still in Girls’ Generation which is managed by SM so yeah.
I’m wheezing! All these Big 3 stans thinking that the companies aren’t going to beg for U.S. coverage. they’re all begging and Jae writes for the places they want coverage in because it’s prestigious in SK. Jae just wrote about Lay for the LA Times, bitches! Lay is in EXO. EXO is in SM. Apologize!
THIS! You can google and find that Naver put an article that Jae-ha wrote on its front page. It was a Chicago Tribrune article about Monsta X and the whole thing was about how I.M did the interview in English for such a prestigious newspaper. Korea loves clout and are proud of all the international coverage, especially in the U.S.
to be fair BTS stans are always encouraging Big Hit to sue haters too but it is funny that SM/EXOLs were so pressed and now they have to eat their words. Kpoppies are all nuts.
@harbourlust_ & @Putria_an I have ss of your tweets and am reporting you to Big Hit. How dare you go around telling EXOLS to sue an army. Fake love? Fake fans!
☕️ There’s an article on Lay in today’s Los Angeles Times. Apparently SM Entertainment admires Ms. Kim.
https://www.latimes.com/travel/cruises/sns-201810160010–tms–celebtrvctnct-a20181016-20181016-story.html
😂😂😂 She just wrote an interview on Yixing and it’s in the Los Angeles Times. But go on with your delusions you crazy eggs!
Erm, all you weirdos can shut up. Jae’s interview with Lay ran today. Lay is on SM Entertainment. Lay is in EXO. You’re lucky she doesn’t hold a grudge against all your petty asses.
Q. Hi Lay, thank you for doing this interview with me.
A. Thanks very much for interviewing me. Hopefully we can meet each other in the U.S. one day. It’s my honor to join your interview.
no sé por qué le dan bola a esta tipa… es lameculo del otro grupo 🗿
bitch said: Translated from Spanish by Microsoft
I do not know why they give ball to this broad… is lameculo of the other group 🗿
lmao you are really stupid.
Kailes is a brainless wannabe without any sense. Maybe she should file a petition with the Blue House. 🙄
ew it’s an 🍳
I guess it wasn’t SM then. lmao All these drama queens getting worked up over nothing.
Hey eggs, guess who is in today’s Chicago Tribune?!?
Lay!
Guess who wrote it?
Jae-Ha Kim!
Guess who didn’t listen to your crazy attacks to sue an innocent journalist?
SM.
Guess who’s crazy?
You all!
Do Kpop bands really expect you to send them questions in advance?
Hi Curious,
I’ve interviewed artists such as BTS, Lay, Tiffany Young, Eric Nam, Wonder Girls, PSY, Monsta X etc. None of them expected (or received) questions from me in advance. Thanks for writing and happy (almost) new year!
I just finished reading this post and the comments and my mind is boggled at how irrational kpop fans are. Hopefully they will grow out of this phase.
So much this!!!