Before Lucas, a former idol from JYP who was accused of getting a fan pregnant still re-debuts in another company
The controversies over Lucas’s dating fans also made netizens related Lucas to another idol whose scandal happened not long ago.
On August 23 and 24, one of the most popular members of NCT, Lucas, was accused of dating his fan secretly, badmouthing his colleagues, refusing to join a show because of the pressure from his senior, and “gold-digging” his girlfriends. These girlfriends not only exposed proofs of their conversations with Lucas but also released photos of Lucas which were taken when he was sleeping and drinking wine with them. Although Lucas did post a handwritten letter to apologize to fans and SM also announced an official statement, fans still criticized the idol and demanded his withdrawal from the group.
Lucas’s scandal once again reminded netizens of a similar case of Woo Jin, a former member of Stray Kids.
In October 2019, only 1 year after Stray Kids debuted in 2018, JYP suddenly announced that they had terminated their contract with the talented main vocal Woo Jin without mentioning any reason.
Although the reason was not stated, fans could easily understand why JYP did that according to various controversies that occurred at that time. Earlier to the termination of Woo Jin’s contract, on September 8 2019, an account on Twitter uploaded various posts to expose Woo Jin. This account revealed that on April 29, when she was drinking alone in a bar, an idol whose name included Woo from a BIG3 company approached her. The girl said she already had a boyfriend; however, this idol continued to compliment her sexy body figure and didn’t leave. This person also stated that Woo Jin once said he liked “Western girls with sexy body”
Next, another account claiming to be Woojin’s ex-lover continued to expose the male idol, saying: “Hello!! I am Kim Woojin’s ex-girlfriend. My friends told me that people on Twitter were saying they were sexually assaulted by him, and that gave me the confidence [to speak out]. I thought I should mention to everyone that I was also a victim.”
After some more speculation, one Chinese netizen’s accusations towards Woojin was revealed, and it was here that the accusation of Woojin drugging and getting a fansite master pregnant started.
“Kim Woojin, you are so shameless. I didn’t hold anything against you when you did that on the variety show, but now what. You have the audacity to come to China and find Yao Chen and watch R1SE’s concert? China won’t welcome you.
When you were on hiatus, I don’t know what drug you used, but you drugged a fansite master and got her pregnant. Kim Woojin, doesn’t this hurt your conscience? I don’t know what you want to do, Woojin. Have you ever thought of Yao Chen’s feelings? If you have the guts, don’t ever step foot into the entertainment industry again.”
It has been known that Yao Chen (R1SE) and Woojin used to be good friends as they once practiced together under JYP. However, netizens assumed that Yao Chen’s fansite master was drugged and raped by Woojin, resulting in her pregnancy, based on this comment. Perhaps this is why JYP took such drastic measures against him.
However, after leaving JYP, Woojin announced the release of a solo pre-debut album on July 8 in order to “pave the way” for a solo comeback. But this led many people to condemn him harshly.
Many people couldn’t take it and expressed harsh and deeply offensive comments to him in response to his solo pre-debut MV:
- You sing very well; I hope you don’t sing anymore.
- Why does he still have the label of former Stray Kids member?
- The world’s most professional artist?
- Go show off your abs for your wife and kid. We don’t f*cking care.
As can be seen, image preservation is highly essential for each Kpop star in particular and artists in general. Controversies or scandals involving private life, particularly personality scandals, are highly distressing for fans. The fact that celebrities have complicated relationships with their fans while also behaving irresponsibly has a significant influence on the fan community’s expectations and faith in each idol.
