International fans raise concerns over GRIEND Yerin’s appearance in YouTube content
On September 22nd, the YouTube channel “The Myeonsang” uploaded a new video featuring GFRIEND’s Yerin as a guest.
Yerin appeared in the video and met with host Jo Hoon. Jo Hoon was having a meeting about emoticons so he asked Yerin for her opinions.
Yerin did the “Bam Bam Bam” challenge with Jo Hoon and there was an uncomfortable conversation after that.
Jo Hoon said Yerin’s hands looked small and suggested that they compared their hands together. The female singer was seen avoiding Jo Hoon when he touched the back of her hands.
Yerin tried to avoid the touch until the end, then Jo Hoong jokingly said, “Let’s catch Yerin, squeak squeak squeak”.
Later, there was a scene in which the two were filmed by a reporter and looked worried as if they were afraid of dating rumors. They also acted out several situations, such as Yerin drawing a line with Jo Hoon, saying they were only colleagues, and Jo Hoon asking Yerin about the kind of alcohol she liked. As Yerin left after saying she didn’t want to drink with him, Jo Hoon called a reporter and asked him to take some pictures of them.
After the release of the video, Jo Hoon faced a backlash from foreign netizens and Yerin’s international fans. They commented, “If you meet a girl and make her feel uncomfortable, you had better stop doing that. Do you know what you’re doing?”, “Don’t touch Yerin”, “Why did he keep crossing the line when Yerin already said she did not like the touching? Can’t you see her expressions? Please apologize to her”, “Comedy should be about things people can sympathize with, not a uncomfortable plot like this”, etc.
In fact, at the beginning of the video, there was a notice, saying “This video is a fake documentary. Everything is acting and it has nothing to do with the actual facts”.
Korean netizens also commented, “Yerin, foreign fans don’t understand the concept so they are worried about you”, “Jo Hoon always makes content for self-interest”, “Ah, it’s all a concept…? What kind of concept is that? Sexual harassment concept? Potential sex offender concept?”, “Even if you were making a comedy, don’t you think this content can be considered sexual harassment?”, etc.
Jo Hoon debuted in 2016 as a comedian through the 16th recruitment of SBS’s “Smile People”. He is currently active as a YouTuber. His agency is Meta Comedy and he’s a member of The Myeonsang. Jo Hoon recently released a digital single called “Do You Know Dr. Hong?”
Source: Nate
