"Weekly Idol" Under Fire For Delaying ONF's Episode To Make Room For Rain And CIIPHER

MBC Every1‘s Weekly Idol is being criticized for their most recent actions.

Weekly Idol is receiving scrutiny for the way they handled their upcoming schedule. The official Twitter account for Weekly Idol initially tweeted to share the excitement about having ONF on the show for their upcoming episode. Here is the tweet, revealing the announcement to their followers.

<Weekly Idol> V Live! ONF will appear on Weekly Idol.

— @weeklyidol_/Twitter

Just a week later, the following tweet was posted, updating ONF fans that their previous schedule air date would be delayed.

We wanted to inform you all that the episode featuring ONF that was originally scheduled for 3/3 has now been rescheduled for 3/10.

— @weeklyidol_/Twitter

While premiere delays happen occasionally within the industry, the reason for ONF’s episode delay is being heavily criticized by netizens. The reason? In place of ONF’s original 3/3 episode broadcast, Rain and his rookie boy group, CIIPHER, will be featured instead.

<Weekly Idol> V Live! Rain and CIIPHER will be on Weekly Idol.

— @weeklyidol_/Twitter

ONF made their debut back in 2017 and are currently signed under WM Entertainment. WM Entertainment is also home to popular idol groups, B1A4 and OH MY GIRL. According to netizens, while WM Entertainment is not completely unknown, they do not hold as much power when compared to Rain. Due to this reason, netizens believe ONF is being pushed out by the veteran singer who is not only a legend but also a huge household name within the K-Pop industry.

When it was revealed that Rain would be accompanied on the show by his upcoming rookie boy group, CIIPHER, they received even further backlash. This news wasn’t taken well by the public since the boy group has yet to make their official debut and Rain’s supposed motive became clear.

Netizens couldn’t help but speculate given the facts and the related Weekly Idol tweets. They are criticizing Rain and his agency, Rain Company, for their supposed “tyrannical behavior.” They are alleging that the veteran singer is using his status as leverage to push Weekly Idol to air CIIPHER’s episode instead of ONF’s.

“Isn’t this obvious tyrannical behavior by Rain? Is CIIPHER a group made by Rain?”
“Anytime something like this happens, I get baffled and it feels dirty hahaha I know that the idol industry is based on the wealth of the adults…I know that, but let’s not make it this obvious…hahaha”
“If they were from a big agency, would this have happened? This is tyrannical behavior, Weekly Idol explain yourself”
“I support ONF”
“I’m not an ONF fan, but this is hard to see. I don’t want to see those f**king people who can’t seem to get along with one another. We need to sack them. That’s all.”
“They’re probably going crazy.”
“My idols also went through a time when they weren’t popular…they overcame all of that and now they’re the best. Don’t be too sad fans, just keep supporting them until the end…”
“That’s too much…they should’ve just gone with the normal schedule…”