A Chinese fansite of Seungri revealed that it would be running an ad for BIGBANG’s 16^th anniversary in Seoul featuring the jailed ex-member.

This plan has infuriated and dismayed many Korean and international fans of BIGBANG, who think such an ad would be severely damaging for BIGBANG and their fandom.

Korean fans are currently organizing to get in touch with YG Entertainment, BIGBANG’s agency, the ad agency in charge of the electronic billboard at the Myeongdong Red Eye Building, and the local civic body to prevent the ad from running. Their complaints state that the glorification of a jailed sex offender is against public morals and harmful to women’s rights.

However, some international fans of the disgraced celebrity insist upon including him in all BIGBANG-related narratives saying that BIGBANG’s legacy was forged with him. This despite the fact that Seungri himself left the entertainment industry in 2019 and BIGBANG themselves have moved on from that, parting with a blockbuster comeback as four.

Listen to four-member BIGBANG's hugely successful comeback single, Still Life, here:

In August of 2021, Seungri was jailed for a total of nine charges, including three sexual offenses. One of these was prostitution mediation, wherein he paid for prostitutes to be sent to potential investors in his businesses. Seungri remains in prison, serving out his eighteen-month prison sentence, reduced from three years by a High Court after he confessed to all his charges. Earlier this year, Instagram deleted his account under its safety policy, which makes the platform unavailable to sex offenders.