Fans expressed their fury over Woollim Entertainment CEO's recent behavior.
During the night of July 13 KST, INFINITE's Woohyun interacted with his fans via Instagram Live in the presence of Sunggyu and Lee Joong Yeop, the CEO of Woollim Entertainment. In the video, the three were seen having a drink together outdoors.
As soon as the live stream began, Lee Joong Yeop was reportedly captured hitting Woohyun on the head. Looking at the camera, Woohyun said, "You all saw this, right? He hits me like this. Hitting me too much."
Afterwards, the singer took off his hat and showed his head to the viewers.
Then, as he turned the camera towards Lee Joong Yeop, Woohyun said, "This situation is the worst." To this comment, the CEO remarked, "Your face is the worst."
Furthermore, when Sunggyu commented that he could not go through with his Instagram Live due to a microphone issue, the CEO said, "It's because you don't want to interact [with the fans]." Sunggyu immediately defended himself saying, "I interacted with them for three hours yesterday."
To the singers, the CEO continued to make comments such as, "Your face is 80kg, so stop it", and referred to them using mild profanity. When Woohyun told him, "Don't swear," Lee Joong Yeop fought back against their words, and the three carried on laughing.
Sunggyu finally commented that the CEO will "probably do a blanket kick [out of regret] tomorrow".
Fans split over this issue, with most finding the behavior "unacceptable" and others regarding it as a "joke".
Some comments include:
"Why is he doing this if he knows that the fans are watching?"
"I understand that they are all close to each other, but he shouldn't have done that."
"Why is he only attacking Woohyun??"
"The members seem totally shocked"
Meanwhile, some netizens also shared that such happening could happen if the CEO and the artists share a "casual relationship."
What do you think of this issue?
At this point infinite are super sunbaes in the company. I think there was recently an article about Sunggyu being on very close terms with the CEO in comparison Lovelyz and Golden Child.
However, I dont think fans feel like the company has done enough to treat them well in a forward-facing way that makes these kinds of incidents fun or seem familial.