Winwin personally spoke up about sitting out on WayV's upcoming promotions.
On May 10, SM Entertainment announced Winwin would not be joining WayV for their new promotions, citing his drama filming schedule as the reason. Winwin has now posted the following statement on the matter:
"At the end of last year, I got told by the team that we would start preparing a new album in May. So from January to April this year, I participated in the TV series shooting, but the plan to produce the album was suddenly brought forward to the end of March. At that time, I was on the set, shooting my main scene, and I really couldn't adjust the time to participate in group activities. In order to participate in the new album, I have communicated with the team about various alternatives, but the final result is that it is a pity that I can't participate in this comeback. I want to say sorry to Wayzenni, who are looking forward to our WayV's comeback. I also wish that WayV's comeback can achieve good results. I will be here to support everyone.
(EDIT: originally missed this line) I just landed and was thinking about this the whole plane ride.
I still feel that I need to explain it myself. Don't want any misunderstandings between us."
Fans are expressing disappointment at SM Entertainment after Winwin's post as some felt the label intentionally excluded the WayV member. They commented, "I know Winwin is mad that he can't participate, SM's scheduling sucks," "Everyone needs to know SM never contacted Winwin about schedule conflicts," "Once again only disappointment from this company," and more.
What are your thoughts on the matter?
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It sucks, he won't be able to paticipate. He shouldn't have to add these clarifications and details in order to prevent criticism about his acting career taking priority, because the SM statement should've covered this for him. He's booking more and more (lead) roles, but it still should be possible to balance the members' (solo) promotions and schedules in order to have a full group comeback. TEN completed his solo fan-con tour at the end of April and those dates were announced around January, which would tie in with Winwin's point about preparing for the new album in May. There's probably a lot more to this than just SM being horrible at scheduling, but it seems like there's always some negative narrative connected to WayV, which is really unfortunate, because they're such a great subunit.