Slip of tongue or leak of inner voice?

Seven-member hip-hop boy band Block B appeared in an interview with TV station RYT9 in January 2012. They got into trouble for their wanton remarks.

Reckless remarks put celebs into trouble

By Park Si-soo

Kim Sung-kyu from INFINITE

Shindong, left, and Donghae from Super Junior

Boy band JYJ

Stars cannot exist without fans. And they seem to be fully aware of this, given that they rather predictably always end their media interviews with the same old cliche, “I love you.”

Ironically, there are very few people who believe their expression of love to fans is sincere in any way. This has got some people determined to verify the depth of this archaic self-professed love that celebs have for their fans.

For instance, some bourgeoning entertainers have diligently tried to relate to their fans in a very real world situation through acts such as appearing on TV shows with no makeup and publicly discussing their voracious eating or bizarre sleeping habits.

However, as the maxim everything has its dark side suggests, there is always someone who finds their attempts to imitate trends badly backfiring. Needless to say such instances leaves one in an extremely awkward position besides the risk of tainting one’s reputation.

Keep body & tongue in check

A case in point is Block B, the seven-member hip-hop boy band that debuted in 2011 and instantly took the domestic showbiz industry by storm with powerful voices and dance moves.

Their popularity soon spilled over into Southeast Asia the following year. The rookie band left its first footprint in Thailand in January 2012 through an interview with a local TV station RYT9.

Perhaps making themselves out of control during the interview was a fine-tuned tactic to appeal to local fans. It turned out that they had gone too far, by all accounts, in their desperate bid to make an impression.

From the start, the interview was marked by a number of embarrassing actions, some of which were absolutely provocative.

One of the members abruptly lounged on the coffee table during the interview, then another started dancing on his seat. As if that was not bad enough, another member started imitating a chest-beating gorilla. An unidentified member suddenly lifted both feet to the air to surprise the interviewer with feet clapping. A member sitting next to the feet-clapper yelled at him in Korean, “What a crazy guy!” Another member wagged his hip for no apparent reason.

The most disturbing moment for local viewers was the band members’ somewhat insouciant attitude toward victims of the massive floods that devastated major parts of the country including Bangkok in October 2010.

Asked about the disaster, the band’s leader Zico said: “I hope monetary compensation will heal their wounds because all I have is money.” When asked how much money he had, the leader said: “Around 7000 won ($6),” causing the other members to erupt in laughter.

The broadcasting of the interview stirred a massive outrage against Block B. The bandissued a public apology over the “careless” acts and remarks amid criticism in Thailand and Korea. Their management agency tried to downplay the incident, claiming the comment was made with the aim of breaking the ice with the reporter and shooting crew.

No matter what the genuine reason may be, observers said, it’s obvious that the incident severely tarnished the image of Korean entertainers as a whole. Following the scandal, the Culture Ministry urged entertainment agencies to prevent the recurrence of similar scandalous incidents.

Unfaithful broadcasters

Kim Sung-kyu, leader of seven-member boy band INFINITE, is another case. It’s hard to tell since when entertainers were allowed to make unpleasant, offensive remarks on air. What is even more curious is why broadcasters continue to bring them on air without adequate scrutiny.

The 24-year-old singer triggered a controversy late last month following an offensive comment he made about a female guest in her 30s during a talk show, produced by popular cable TV channel tvN.

“I would say women aged 30 or older are all snobbery,” Kim said, referring to female guest Park Eun-ji, a weather forecaster-turned-TV star who just turned 30. His comments were made within the context of Park discussing the tough challenges of her life.

Kim faced fierce criticism over the comment, for which he later issued a written apology. Many critics placed the blame squarely on tvN, for failing to put in place the right safeguards.

Shindong of top-tier boy band Super Junior also trigged an online brouhaha with a comment he made during a radio show in January 2010, which led many listeners to call him a sexist.

Asked how he reacted when he found his girl friend was visibly gaining weight, the chubby singer said, “My girl friend always nags me to lose weight. But my answer is always the same. You should do it first because you are woman.”

He later apologized for his insensitive comment, which was widely seen as a reflection of chauvinism. Another Super Junior member Donghae came under fire in April 2007 after a video clip of him recorded in Beijing, in which he unleashed several Korean four-letter words to a throng of Chinese people who were standing in his way leading toward the venue for a music award, came public.

Another top-ranking boy band JYJ became the target of online bullying early last year after its three members were caught in a video footage for making offensive remarks against paparazzi-like fans and even physically assaulting some of them in a fit of rage.