Fans spoke out in force after JYP’s announcement that Jae Beom wouldn’t be returning to 2PM. And they are speaking out even more after a fan meeting held on Feb. 27 in Seoul.
JYP organized the meet-up as a way to do damage control and hopefully appease the scores of jaded fans. Unfortunately, the conference had the exact opposite effect and caused even more fans to cut ties with the once-popular group.
Fans say they feel as though the remaining members have turned their backs on their fallen leader, and that the boys were extremely rude as they answered pointed questions in an attempt to explain their decision. However, going through the transcripts, it seems as though the boys were mainly reacting to the hostile atmosphere, showing just how hurt and frustrated they are by the whole ordeal.
“We tried to understand Jae Beom. We even put up with your boycott (against the agency and us). But why do you blame us?” said member Chan-sung.
But it appears that this is the very attitude that fans are protesting. Many are saying that it is unfair for Jae Beom to be ‘branded with the scarlet letter’ and that the remaining members of ’6PM’ are now ‘hypocrites’ and ‘traitors’, even though they said at the meeting that they still consider Jae a friend and brother.
“You may think that we have not protected him, but we have done so by not revealing what he had done. Rumors go away,” the group’s rapper, Tac-yeon, told fans, hoping to show that even though they kicked him out, they had Jae Beom’s best interests at heart.
Despite the group’s urging for rumors to quiet and Jae Beom’s own mother’s request for fans to stop dragging her son back into the limelight, anti-fans all over Korea are posting videos on Youtube of themselves burning pictures and CDs. They have also vowed to boycott all 2PM merchandise AND all the products that the band is currently promoting until the company tells the truth about why it let Jae Beom go. (So… it looks like no more Corby phones, Coke, Spris shoes and athletic wear, Market O chocolate cookies, Cass beer or Paris Baguette for fans… Hottest has a full list up for those interested.)
But some are taking things a step further and vowing to dig up and post any and all dirt that they can on the remaining members. Photos of Tac-yeon with various girls taken from his personal Cyworld page have been posted all over the internet with articles alleging that he has had either a one-night-stand or a ‘friends with benefits’ status with each girl. But so far, all these reports have had no substantial proof.
And fans have reportedly leaked personal information, such as residential identification numbers (similar to a social security number in the US) of each member online, which is illegal and has caused JYPE to file police reports.
Reports also say that JYPE has hired security to guard all branch offices from enraged former fans.
Despite all this, the company still maintains that it will not release information about Jae Beom’s transgression because of its private nature, which hasn’t stopped the rumors. The latest say it could be a sex tape that may have involved a female member from another JYP group, who may or may not be pregnant with the former leader’s child.
The rumors are running rampant and no one seems to be able to tell truth from the lie. And all I have to say is… fans should be careful what they wish for… because whatever Jae Beom did, it was obviously bad enough to get him fired.
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