Here’s Why The Public Is Responding So Harshly To “Single’s Inferno” Ji A’s Knock-Off Controversy

Beauty YouTuber and Single’s Inferno contestant Ji A has been under hot water recently, ever since her fake designer controversy took over the nation. While the Netflix star has since apologized for her mistakes, she has continued to receive endless malicious comments for her wrongdoings.

In light of the growing situation, former reporter and industry insider Lee Jin Ho shared, what he believes are the alleged reasons why Ji A’s controversy has received such a harsh response from the public.

The former entertainment reporter interviewed different stylists within the industry to get their take on the growing controversy. Stylist A, who have been in the industry for over a year, shared during their phone call with Lee Jin Ho that there is just “no way she [Ji A] didn’t know the items were fake.” The stylist also shared their frustrations with the situation by reminding Lee Jin Ho that “knock-off items are illegal.”

There’s just no way that she didn’t know the knock-off items were fake. It doesn’t make sense that she wore it without knowing.

Knock-off items are illegal. That’s why it’s a problem. It all comes down to the difference of one thread to make a fake item. Unless you’re a professional, it’s really hard to tell the difference [between fake and real designer items] through a screen.

— Stylist A

The stylist continued to share with Lee Jin Ho that while there are instances of comedians using fake designer goods as a part of their skit, wearing knock-off items on K-Dramas or variety programs are impossible to see. The reason is because the stars will typically wear sponsored items. This means that need to wear luxury brands are not needed since the clothing is provided for them.

Lee Jin Ho then elaborated on why Ji A was most likely able to appear on the Netflix reality program with her knock-off designer goods—and it has everything to do with her being an ordinary citizen.

Usually, ordinary citizen contestants will wear their own clothing on variety shows, such as ‘Heart Signal.’ From the production team’s perspective, it’s hard for them to figure out if an item is fake or not. But even then, it’s rare for someone to wear knock-offs on a show like Ji A did—and there’s a definitive reason why.

— Lee Jin Ho

It was during his conclusion that Lee Jin Ho revealed the very reason why the public has been responding so harshly to Ji A’s controversy. The former reporter revealed that while there are many professional-grade levels of knock-off goods, Ji A didn’t buy those but instead, confidently wore “poorly created knock-offs” during her time on the show. Lee Jin Ho revealed this most likely pissed off netizens because she didn’t expect to get caught, which came out of her “lowly” views of the viewers.

There are two different levels of fake designer goods, S-level and A-level. These two levels have been determined, even by professionals, to be difficult to get caught. Unless you can see it in person and see the item for yourself, it’s hard to determine if an item is fake through the screen of a show.

Ji A’s knock-off clothing and accessories, however, were neither S-level or A-level but rather, poorly created knock-offs. There’s a possibility that her agency could have dressed Ji A in the fake designer clothes. However, that seems unlikely since it was reported that her agency is paying the monthly rent for her Trimage apartment in order to upkeep her image.

In light of all that, Ji A still brought her knock-offs for the program, even though there was a high likelihood of getting caught. There’s no way she didn’t know.

But she thought too lowly of the viewers and she underestimated them.

— Lee Jin Ho

You can watch Lee Jin Ho’s full video, where he dissects Ji A’s controversy in detail down below.