Kakao M Clarifies What Happened At IU’s Concert, After Receiving Backlash For Over-Aggressiveness
IU‘s agency Kakao M triggered a heated debate among fans and netizens for allegedly suing a concert attendee for broadcasting the audio from the first night of her “LOVE, POEM” tour concert.
IU’s Agency Sues A Fan For Broadcasting Her Concert, Sparks Super Heated Debate
The agency has now released an official statement, explaining that it was done to protect IU who went on stage “in an unstable and unhealthy state of mind”.
Hello, this is Kakao M. We would like to clarify why we decided to remove some fans from the concert held in Gwangju City. Recently, IU has been in an unstable and unhealthy state of mind. She even postponed the release of her album. In other words, a lot of thought and careful planning went into this very first night of the concert. She was extra cautious, as were we, of the possibility that even her most genuine words could be delivered differently in text, based only on audio. We were also trying to keep in mind that the concert could unexpected turns, as it could have gotten emotional.
— Kakao M
Kakao M clarified once again that, while they have been lenient in the past, technically “All recording and filming are banned at the concert”.
So while in the past, we have allowed fan cams to record and film the performances without causing interruptions to others or the performances — which is actually technically prohibited in the first place, we decided this particular concert fell under different circumstances.
— Kakao M
Finally, the agency explained that the police had to be involved for privacy concerns. It also revealed that one of the broadcasters caught at the scene had accumulated over 140K streams from broadcasting her shows — in response to the netizen criticism that the agency was excessive in how it handled the issue.
During the first day of the concert in Gwangju, we found and removed some fans who were audio-broadcasting the performances. In the process, as the agency staff had no right to check the fans’ belongings, they got the help of the local police force. Then the involved parties were taken to the police station to write up statements. Unlike what has come to be known, the staff did not file a lawsuit at the station. They also wrote up statements of what happened. As things progressed, we came to know that one of the broadcasters has been streaming her concerts over the past many years, accumulating over 140K streams.
— Kakao M
Kakao M continued to claim that no “excessive” action was taken, and that all was done in an attempt to protect the artist.
In the process of removing these broadcasters from the scene, we may have caused an inconvenience to the other attendees and we apologize for that. We would also like to apologize for anyone who may have felt uncomfortable with the staffs’ aggressiveness in handling the situation. Lastly, we understand that things may have looked different from the fans’ point of view. However, we also believe that the fans would agree that we all share the same love and support for IU nonetheless. We will continue to try our best at providing the most service at the future concert venues.
— Kakao M
Post statement, fans are growing even angrier over the fact that the agency is now “using its artist as a shield.” Despite Kakao M’s effort to explain the situation, IU’s fans continue to criticize the agency for its “below-average management skills”.
Um, but if the artist’s unstable state of mind is what was really on their minds, then shouldn’t they have gotten rid of the fan cams too? Pictures can be very manipulative too. Aren’t they more critical to causing misunderstandings? I don’t understand why Kakao M can’t say sorry for being over the line, but instead would drag their artist into and through this all. Stop using IU as a shield.
— Angry Netizen
IU
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