JYP Entertainment Accused Of Censoring Idols From Showing Support For Korean Protestors
JYP Entertainment has come under fire after fans suspected that the agency is restricting its artists from voicing their political opinions.
The criticism is in relation to two members of the K-Band Xdinary Heroes.
Members Jun Han and O.de from Xdinary Heroes had posted statuses on Bubble, a fan communication app, that expressed their support for the protestors demanding the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Jun Han had changed his status to “sucker punch,” a phrase being used by protestors to refer to the President (a word play on his name, “Suk Yeol”). On the other hand, O.de had put a simple candle emoji on his status which has become a popular symbol of solidarity with the pro-impeachment protests.
However, fans noticed that both of these statuses were short-lived. Jun Han changed it about twenty minutes later into just a “.” sign while O. de replaced the emoji with the phrase “Cheer up.” The latter also removed his profile picture and background photo.
Fans have suspected that JYP Entertainment is directly involved in censoring the singers’ political views on Bubble and heavily criticized the company. Notably, netizens seemed most disappointed in the fact that the agency debuted Xdinary Heroes as a punk band but pushed them away from any political messaging, which is quite simply the essence of punk.
jype debuting an alt rock band and expecting no political messaging or views from the members is so fucking dumb https://t.co/GGYQlFVYpU
— junhaned up | FREE 🍉 (@feliixitations) December 8, 2024
jyp when the punk band they debuted acts like a punk band https://t.co/TT9jOSeGMT pic.twitter.com/Nh4lc7eFVC
— Sasha˙ᵕ˙ (@angelicdotsasha) December 10, 2024
jype, leader in disappointment as always. they are silencing the boys
you can't be punk if you don't speak out against injustice. https://t.co/sR93RM4ByB
— JaEun 🌸🌸🌸 (@JaEunie_hearteu) December 8, 2024
how are you going to make an alt band and not let them speak about political issues or at least show support in small ways https://t.co/HnSnziC1Mp
— VOTE MAJINGXIANG (@rickysh3n) December 9, 2024
Meanwhile, JYP Entertainment is currently entangled in a scandalous lawsuit involving former VCHA member KG. Read more about it here.
A previous version of the article mentioned the wrong names of the Xdinary Heroes members. The article has been updated to reflect the correct names.
