Anti-fans continue to harass EXO Lay accusing him of being two-faced

A controversial Pann (similar to Reddit) post titled, “These are the facts and evidences regarding EXO Lay’s withdrawal. Please read it,” and went on to imply that EXO’s Lay is withdrawing from EXO’s group activities in an unconventional way causing many netizens to take offense for his recent actions.

The following is the Pann post translated by Koreaboo with supplemental information to put the timeline and events into context.

EXO’s Lay will not leave the group.

For his own personal profit, Lay is promoting individually in China while still active as a member of EXO and basically earns income through both solo and group activities. 

I will summarize the shared sentiment among most EXO fans and our community in hopes that many will read this and judge for themselves whether EXO fans are being irrational for their critcism of Lay’s actions. [Our view] is that a member should prioritize group promotions and we ask that you, the third party (even if you are not a fan of EXO), judge for yourself as well.

February 2014
Lay requested SM Entertainment for a personal studio (agency) in China but the agency denied his request. This was confirmed in one of Lay’s Chinese interviews.

May 5th, 2014
Kris leaves EXO.

Koreaboo: On May 5th, EXO-Ls fell into chaos when it was announced to the public that the leader of EXO-M, Kris, filed for contract nullification and left EXO. To show their support for the group, fans left thousands of photos of their hands where they wrote “We are one.” Currently, Kris has not yet reached a settlement with SM Entertainment despite multiple court mandated mediations and was set to join China’s We Got Married, but was not confirmed in the final lineup.

July 2014
Lay again requested for a personal studio from SM and confirmed in an interview and on his Weibo saying that “I want SM to change.”

October 10th, 2014
Luhan leaves EXO; Lay updated his Weibo saying, “Goodbye brother. Let’s stand on the stage together once again when the opportunity arises! I support your decision as your hyung (older brother), [best of luck].”

Koreaboo: When Luhan announced his leave less than half a year after his former member Kris, EXO-Ls were in shock and trended #AlwaysSupportLuhan worldwide on Twitter. Lay’s heartfelt post was received well by the community while SM Entertainment stocks drop significantly. Currently, Luhan is also still in mediation with SM Entertainment and has yet to reach an agreement although he was recently confirmed to star in Hollywood movie “The Great Wall” alongside Matt Damon.

March 31st, 2015
Right before the release of EXO’s latest album Exodus, Lay finalized the paperwork for his Chinese agency “Zhang Yixing Workshop.”

April 7th, 2015
A Chinese Lay fansite that has supported Lay for over 10 years since his days as a child actor “accidentally” leaked a post supporting Lay and his new personal agency, citing it as a mistake in a rather malicious manner just one hour before EXO’s third anniversary. As a result, EXO-L’s scrambled to find the truth as rumors of Lay leaving the group spread like wildfire.

April 8th, 2015 [EXO’s Third Anniversary]
SM Representatives hurriedly made a press release at 8:30AM KST announcing that they have set up an agency for Lay in China. Representatives added, “He will not be leaving EXO and will be complying with his contract for it’s duration. He will also be working towards the advancement of his own company [as well].”

EXO fans were disappointed in Lay and began to express their anger over his actions and Lay fans were left to defend him.

These are the opinions of the fans who “Threw Lay away” and their stance:

[1] Many criticize his attitude and lack of attendance at EXO’s group schedules in order to further his personal profit while the group is in the middle of group promotions.

[2] The fact that Lay’s personal agency is not under his Korean given stage-name but under his real Chinese name, Zhang Yixing, and that the hired staff is not employed by SM Entertainment but under himself means that his personal profits will not be divided with other members. As a solo agency, he will not be working his schedule directly with SM Entertainment.

These are the opinions of Lay’s fans:

[1]  Lay is creating a path for EXO-M to ease into the Chinese music market more smoothly. Through Lay, EXO-M will have more opportunities to promote in the Chinese industry.

[2] Lay may have registered his personal agency [apart from SM Entertainment] but he is still a member of EXO and has not left the group yet. Since he has not yet [made any attempt] to leave the group, he should not be criticized.

But if Lay set up his personal agency for [the betterment of] EXO-M, then why is Lay filming a movie and variety shows by himself and why are the staff employed under himself but not SM Entertainment?

******

With the release of Lay’s interview yesterday, his fans have been left even more disappointed with his attitude and are losing trust.

[1] When asked, “What would you have done if SM Entertainment did not set up a personal agency for you?” Lay responded, “I would have complied with the terms of contract. I cannot terminate my contract.” However, his comment enraged fans because it seemed that he was only complying out of obligation and his attitude was more like “Look, I’m still in EXO aren’t I? I’m still complying with the terms, right?”

[2] “Myself, Zhang Yixing, am complying with EXO’s contract terms, I am [on the same page] with SM Entertainment representatives and with the support of all of EXO. My actions are creating a change in the SM Entertainment company for all Chinese artists.”

[3] “I have to work hard to show that Chinese [idols] can be trusted. If everyone terminated their contracts, then SM Entertainment would not work with another Chinese member again. Talks of all these scandals will block an effective channel of communication between Korea and China.”

*************
The majority of EXO fans will no longer be supporting Lay. EXO fans, let’s find strength. Let’s protect EXO.

I hope that many people will read this post.

The judgment is your call. ▲

 

Koreaboo: During EXO’s promotions, Lay was absent at the press conference due to filming schedule for his upcoming Chinese movie. However, he made an appearance via Facetime at the press conference and was represented by his mascot. A reporter received significant backlash from the community when she made an joke that implied that Lay would stay in China just as Luhan and Kris did.

Many reports have come up recently that highlighted Lay’s dedication to the group saying that he would rather starve than dishonor a contract, he would not leave the group despite Luhan and Kris’s departure, and even said “My core is EXO, I like being with the members the most.”

Source: Pann