EXO’s Baekhyun Accused of Influencing SHINee’s Taemin’s Departure from SM, Netizens Suspect SM’s Media Play 

An original post on Pann about this issue garnered over 10K views and 400 comments within the first hour, but has been deleted. Related discussions on other platforms have amassed over 2 million views.

Industry insiders suggest Taemin’s departure from SM was influenced by Baekhyun, who previously had a less than amicable parting with the company. Notably, an SM official revealed: “Taemin has chosen to join BPM Entertainment under the influence of his close friend, Baekhyun.”

A viral tweet expressing a fan’s viewpoint shortly after read: “Damn! Byun Baekhyun! Byun Baekhyun! Ah! Byun Baekhyun!!!! Why do I despise Big Planet? Oh! MC Mong used to work there. I’ve heard that Byun Baekhyun heavily influenced Taemin’s decision to leave SM? How can I accept this?? If Baekhyun wants to leave the group, he should do it himself, why involve others? This darn situation really ticks me off.”

Netizens’ divided opinions: 

• “So MC Mong and Baekhyun are the ones poaching artists from SM.”
• “Sigh, Taemin’s career is over, just picturing him associating with someone like Byun Baekhyun and MC Mong is truly frightening.”
• “Baekhyun just launched his own brand under his own company, and its connection to MC Mong and Big Planet is undeniable.”
• “SM lost Taemin and Baekhyun and is playing dirty media play, huh?”
• “Wait, last time I checked, Taemin was a mature man capable of making his own decisions, right?.”
• “Stop blaming it all on Byun Baekhyun.”
• “Taemin is a mature man, with more industry experience than Baekhyun. I’m sure he didn’t need anyone’s influence to leave SM. Many artists left SM with different attitudes, even before Baekhyun’s departure. Let’s not be misled anymore; it’s clear that SM is trying to tarnish Baekhyun and Taemin’s reputation.”

All related posts on Korean forums have been deleted, reportedly due to legal intervention from Baekhyun’s company.