IVE And Starship Entertainment Under Fire For A Concert Date

Following asepa and SM Entertainment, IVE and Starship Entertainment are now under fire for holding a concert on July 7.

Previously, Chinese netizens strongly demanded that aespa’s concert in Fukuoka, Japan, initially scheduled for July 7, be changed. July 7 is considered to be a day of mourning in China due to the Marco Polo Bridge incident, which marked the start of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.

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Additionally, fans were worried for Chinese member Ningning, as she was bound to be criticized by the general public in China if she participated in the concert that day. The concert was eventually postponed.

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Now, IVE and Starship Entertainment are receiving criticism for scheduling a concert in Hong Kong on July 7. Although the concert was already announced back in March, Chinese netizens began to take note of the date following asepa’s postponement of their July 7 concert.

Although there are no Chinese members in IVE, Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China; therefore, Chinese netizens believe it’s inappropriate to push ahead with the concert on July 7 due to the historical significance of that day.

Chinese netizens criticized not only IVE and Starship Entertainment, but also the fans and venue.

• “Which venue in Hong Kong approved this?”
• “The number of real-time listens for their new song on a Chinese streaming app is less than 1,000. They’ve lost the entire market. Their latest title track sounds like the ones from super old albums.”
• “Holding a concert on July 7 in China? Starship Entertainment has gone crazy.”
• “If Chinese fans are going to watch it, you should give up your nationality.”
• “Are we still not blacklisting IVE?”

Whether IVE will change the concert date remains to be seen.