K-pop star Karina and Lee Jae-wook: Why has relationship ended following accusations of betrayal by music star’s fans?

Published

1 month ago

April 5, 2024

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“Is the love to you by your fans not enough? Why did you choose to betray the fans? Please apologise directly. Otherwise, you will see a decrease in album sales and empty concert seats.”

This was the message driven, on an electronic sign, to the headquarters of SM Entertainment in Seoul, South Korea, according to media reports in the country.

Why? The company formed and manages K-pop band Aespa, of which singer Karina is a member; this was the reaction after it emerged she was in a relationship with actor Lee Jae-wook.

Karina quickly published an image of a handwritten note, apologising for disappointing her fans and promising to “heal the wounds”.

Now, just a couple of weeks later, their break-up has been announced. SM Entertainment confirmed the split to Sky News, but did not comment.

Only a few days before this, South Korean actors Han So-hee and Ryu Jun-yeol reportedly announced their separation, just two weeks after publicly acknowledging their relationship.

Of course, celebrity couples break up all the time, and there are music stars from all over the world whose fans can sometimes take things too far when it comes to their love for their idols.

In 2022, Harry Styles and his then girlfriend Olivia Wilde addressed “toxic negativity” directed at her from a small corner of his fanbase. Last year, Taylor Swift reportedly told the crowd at a show in Minneapolis that fans should not “feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 million years ago”.

But while diehard fans can overreact to relationships and splits, in the K-pop world there is also controversy around the messaging put out by management, with agencies reportedly keen to promote their stars, known as idols, as romantically obtainable.

UK K-pop expert Felicity Davies, from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) University of London, is writing a PhD on the industry and its fandoms, and says it is common to hear of strict dating rules and even dating bans within the industry.

She points out examples of how going public with romantic relationships has worked out for some K-pop idols, such as Blackpink star Jisoo and actor Ahn Bo-hyun – reports they were dating emerged in August last year and the split was announced in October – and fellow Blackpink star Jennie and Exo boyband member Kai. His bandmate, Chen, is married with children.

“However, there does certainly seem to be a lot of pressure on artists to remain as clean cut as possible and to not be caught doing anything that could potentially be seen as ‘scandalous’, and often dating has appeared to come under this ‘scandalous’ label,” she says. But there isn’t “one unified way all K-pop agencies seem to approach this”, she adds.

In 2018, the stock of record label Cube Entertainment dropped several points after two of their artists, Hyuna and E’Dawn, began dating. It led to them both being removed from the agency’s roster.

“They soon signed with P Nation, an agency that takes no issue with dating, and they were able to continue with their careers in the music industry for multiple years while publicly together, even releasing duets at times,” Felicity says. “Different agencies have different approaches.”

The origins of modern K-pop date back to the 1990s, but perhaps the biggest turning point for Western audiences came from the unlikely source of South Korean rapper Psy and his single Gangnam Style.

Released in July 2012, by December of that year it had become the first YouTube video to reach one billion views.

Since then, the genre has evolved and become a multibillion-dollar industry, making worldwide stars of boybands such as BTS and girl groups like Blackpink. In 2019, BTS became the first ever Korean act to score a UK number one album, with Map Of The Soul: Persona – which also became their third Billboard number one album in less than a year in the US. They also sold out Wembley in 90 minutes.

BTS announced a hiatus in 2022, with several members now undertaking mandatory military duties, but there are still plenty of acts filling charts around the world, including Stray Kids, Fifty Fifty and NewJeans.

Last year, 35 different K-pop albums entered the Billboard 200, and five topped the chart.

The fandoms are huge – but not all fans have such extreme reactions to romantic relationships.

Despite the backlash she has faced for her relationship with Lee Jae-wook, many of Karina’s followers have been supportive.

In fact, looking at the response to her Instagram post, which has received more than 2.6 million likes, the vast majority have called out her need to apologise. “Apologise for loving someone?” one wrote. “You don’t need to do this, you deserve to be happy.”

Felicity says that while there are still restrictions, K-pop stars have more freedom now than they did 15 years ago.

“I do also think that if the ‘anti-dating’ fans continue to become more widely recognised as the inappropriate exception, and the less bothered ones the expected norm, industry restrictions towards dating will continue to ease even more,” she says. “Hopefully to the point where idols will be able to date freely without fear of such negative reactions.”

But she adds: “However, as the situation with Karina and Lee Jae-wook shows, we’re not quite there yet.”

Entertainment

Dabney Coleman, actor who starred in Boardwalk Empire and 9 to 5, dies

Published

11 hours ago

May 18, 2024

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Dabney Coleman, actor who starred in Boardwalk Empire and 9 to 5, dies

Lily Tomlin, Morgan Fairchild and Ben Stiller have led tributes to “one-of-a-kind” actor Dabney Coleman following his death aged 92.

Coleman made his career playing comedic villains, mean-spirited bosses and villains in films including 9 to 5 and Tootsie, as well as playing Commodore Louis Kaestner in Boardwalk Empire.

Lily Tomlin, who starred alongside him in 9 To 5 with Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton, said: “We just loved him.”

In her post to X, the actress shared a photo of her character Violet Newstead dressed in a Snow White costume beside a tense-looking Coleman as her egotistical boss Franklin Hart Jr.

Morgan Fairchild, who starred in Falcon Crest and Friends, described Coleman as a “great one”.

“So very sorry to hear of the death of the wonderful #DabneyColeman”, she wrote on X alongside a black and white photo of them together.

“We went out for a bit in the ’80s and I adored him. This town has lost one of a kind!”

Coleman “took his last earthly breath peacefully and exquisitely” in his Santa Monica home on Thursday, his daughter said in a statement on Friday on behalf of the family.

“My father crafted his time here on Earth with a curious mind, a generous heart and a soul on fire with passion, desire and humour that tickled the funny bone of humanity”, she said.

“As he lived, he moved through this final act of his life with elegance, excellence and mastery.”

Ben Stiller, Zoolander and Meet The Parents actor, praised Coleman for paving the way for character actors.

“The great Dabney Coleman literally created, or defined, really – in a uniquely singular way – an archetype as a character actor.

“He was so good at what he did it’s hard to imagine movies and television of the last 40 years without him.”

Coleman starred in a number of films and TV series in the 1960s, then made his breakthrough as a corrupt mayor in the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, in 1976.

His film credits include a computer scientist in WarGames, Tom Hanks’ father in You’ve Got Mail and a chief firefighter in The Towering Inferno.

He won a best actor Golden Globe for The Slap Maxwell Story and an Emmy for best supporting actor in Peter Levin’s 1987 legal drama Sworn To Silence.

Coleman also won two Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the cast of crime drama Boardwalk Empire and received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his starring role in the NBC sitcom Buffalo Bill.

Entertainment

Yvette Fielding says she was assaulted by Rolf Harris on Blue Peter and left alone with Jimmy Savile

Published

12 hours ago

May 18, 2024

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Yvette Fielding says she was assaulted by Rolf Harris on Blue Peter and left alone with Jimmy Savile

Blue Peter’s youngest ever presenter has claimed disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris sexually assaulted her when she was a teenage host of the children’s show.

Yvette Fielding, who joined the long-running BBC programme aged 18, told the Sun newspaper how the paedophile predator squeezed and patted her bottom after finding herself alone with him in a TV studio.

The now 55-year-old also recalled an uncomfortable experience with “grotesque” Jimmy Savile, who was later revealed to be one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders.

Fielding has questioned the role of the BBC in allowing their behaviour, arguing people in the industry “must have known”.

She became a Blue Peter presenter in 1987 and left five years later, going on to host a string of BBC programmes including The Heaven And Earth Show, The General and City Hospital.

Recounting the incident with Harris, she said: “It was very confusing and shocking – just bizarre to think Rolf Harris was squeezing and patting my bottom and I am standing there, thinking ‘I don’t know what to do’.

“Other people in the industry must have known what he was like and you left me alone in the studio with him.

“That shouldn’t have happened. I must have been 18 or 19.

“I think a lot of them did know.”

Harris was a household favourite for decades before his dramatic downfall after being convicted of a string of indecent assaults against young girls.

Stripped of his honours, he died of neck cancer and old age in May last year, aged 93.

He was also known to be associated with Savile, who managed to conceal his crimes until after his death in 2011.

On her meeting with the late depraved DJ, Fielding told the Sun: “He took my hand and started stroking it. ‘Look into my eyes’, he said, ‘And tell me what you’re thinking’.”

“He was grotesque,” she added.

“I just don’t understand why the BBC allowed him to get away with that for as long as he did.”

Savile worked for much of his career at the BBC presenting programmes including Top Of The Pops and Jim’ll Fix It.

The BBC has been contacted for comment.

Entertainment

Girls Aloud kick off reunion tour dedicated to late bandmate Sarah Harding

Published

18 hours ago

May 18, 2024

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Girls Aloud kick off reunion tour dedicated to late bandmate Sarah Harding

Girls Aloud have taken to the stage for the first gig of their reunion tour with emotional tributes to their late bandmate Sarah Harding.

A 30-minute delay to the show blamed on “Dublin motorway closures”, did nothing to dim the delight of fans when Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh appeared on stage, standing on individual podiums singing their 2008 song Untouchable.

The comeback tour has been dedicated to Harding, who was diagnosed with cancer and died in September 2021 aged 39.

During the show, the group performed a duet with Harding, whose vocals to I’ll Stand By You played as they joined in live on-stage.

They later sang one of their biggest hits, The Promise, during which the singers stopped and turned their backs to the audience to watch footage of Harding performing the song on her own.

A post on the official Girls Aloud X account said: “Show 1 done. Dublin you were absolutely INCREDIBLE. What a start to the #TheGirlsAloudShow tour.”

The singers won Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 and formed Girls Aloud, going on to achieve four UK number one singles and a Brit award.

They reunited with new music for their 10th anniversary in 2012, while a second reunion was planned for their 20th anniversary when Harding was diagnosed with cancer.

Less than an hour before their expected arrival at the 3Arena in Dublin, the group issued an updated stage time on X.
It said due to “Dublin motorway closures”, the band would arrive 30 minutes later than expected at 9.15pm.

Ahead of the show, a post on the official Girls Aloud X account said: “Rehearsals? Done. Choreography? Ready. Outfits? Fitted. Girls? Aloud.

“…We’ve been working so hard to make this show special for all of you.”

After two back-to-back opening nights in Dublin’s 3Arena, Girls Aloud will play two concerts at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Monday and Tuesday, before heading to the Manchester AO Arena from Thursday to Saturday.

In November, the group had to add six extra dates to their UK and Ireland 2024 arena tour due to “unprecedented demand” following ticket pre-sales.