NewJeans Minji’s Recent Controversy Highlights Fans’ Abusive Behavior During Livestreams

NewJeans‘ Minji‘s controversy over a past livestream has fans reflecting on their action towards idols.

On January 16, NewJeans’ Minji surprised K-Pop fans when she uploaded an apology. In a statement, the idol apologized to her fans for her attitude on a recent livestream while revealing that she had been harassed for a seemingly insignificant misunderstanding.

However, as time passed, more comments were made against my judgment, even my relationship with the members was mentioned, and I received strange misunderstandings, which continued to harass me knowingly or unknowingly for a year.

So I gave an explanation out of frustration, but I am also reflecting a lot on myself for disappointing you with my very immature attitude. Through this incident, I thought about it a lot during my vacation and talked to people around me about the responsibility of my every word, and I learned a lot. I will be more careful and attentive so as not to repeat the same mistake. I would like to once again express my apologies to the Bunnies who must have felt uncomfortable and embarrassed while watching the live broadcast.

— Minji

The misunderstanding seemed to have sparked when Minji muttered to herself in an earlier livestream that she didn’t know what Kalguksu was. 

It seems some netizens used this opportunity to maliciously harass Minji about the incident, claiming the idol was putting on an act and that it was impossible for her not to know what Kalguksu was.

Eventually, the idol pushed back on the trolls during a recent livestream, during which she directly addressed the harassment.

Everyone, do you think I wouldn’t know what kalguksu is? So, what’s kalguksu mean, like… Would I not know, everyone? Think about it twice. That’s right. I didn’t know, that’s why I said I didn’t. Do you all know how many types of kalguksu there are, and the ingredients that go into it?

— Minji

As news of the livestream and her apology went viral, many fans couldn’t help but reflect on the harassment idols receive during their livestreams.

• It’s understandable that she is frustrated after being misunderstood for so long… As a human being, isn’t this understandable? It’s not like she cursed or anything.
• I really feel bad for idols. Why does she need to apologize for this?
• She just seemed more upset than usual. But it seems that fans had harassed her for a long time.
• But why did she do this when fans didn’t say anything to her? Was there a troll who was acting out in the chat?
• I feel so sorry for her, sigh.
• Minji… People just suck.

Meanwhile this isn’t the first time an idol has been harassed during their livestreams. Recently, a fan made an inappropriate request during a fan call with  ZEROBASEONE‘s Ricky.

“Literally Harassment”: ZEROBASEONE’s Ricky Refuses Inappropriate Request During Fan Call

In another incident, SEVENTEEN‘s Hoshi was harassed by a Sasaeng during his livestream.

SEVENTEEN’s Hoshi Exposes Sasaeng’s Harassment During Livestream

As idols continue to connect with fans through livestreams, it is important that fans respect them as human beings.