US fans celebrate K-pop group Seventeen amid company tussle

OAKLAND, California - South Korean boy band Seventeen had fans chanting their names in Oakland, California last week as part of their “Right Here” world tour to promote the group’s 2024 album “17 Is Right Here."

“I've been a Seventeen fan about six or seven years," said Ruby Webb, a 21-year-old fan from Portland, Oregon.

“I love them [Seventeen] so much. S.Coups, Mingyu, Dino, they’re my babies,” she added.

While there was excitement, the fans known as Carats, spoke about the recent controversy with the South Korean company HYBE, that oversees several K-Pop artists, including popular groups BTS, Blackpink and Seventeen.

An internal document that circulated among company executives, including HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, containing disparaging comments about several of its K-pop groups was disclosed during a National Assembly audit on Oct. 24 by the South Korean National Assembly’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee.

The report was revealed by Korean pop culture critic Kang Myung Seok.

In the document, some K-pop groups, including Seventeen, were criticized for being "unattractive" and having "too much plastic surgery."

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This followed a series of other controversies in the industry.

K-pop star Hanni, a member of the group NewJeans, made an appeal in October for better treatment in the K-pop industry during a parliamentary hearing.

K-pop idols are often held to high standards for their behavior and must maintain a clean public image, including pressure from fans not to have partners.

The company's criticism of Seventeen immediately sparked backlash from Carats.

“I’m mostly disappointed,” said Laura Munoz, 29, who traveled from Kansas to attend the concert.

“You support a group, and their own company is not keeping them in mind and wanting to protect them, and being on their side,” she added.

For Webb, however, it's important to focus more on the music than the controversy.

"I'm just trying to have my focus and on the members, not a big huge conglomerate," she said.

Eden Johnson, 22, who attended the concert with Webb dressed as a carrot, felt optimistic at her first Seventeen concert.

"I just enjoy it, being at the concert that they [Seventeen] get to be happy in," she added.

Seventeen member, Seungkwan, posted a response to the document on Instagram in October, a few days after it was released.

“You have no right to easily insert yourselves into our narrative,” he wrote in Korean.

“This applies not just to us but to other artists as well. We are not your commodities to be used and enjoyed at will,” he added.

The South Korean group had last year's biggest-selling album globally.

Lee Jaesang, CEO of HYBE, issued an apology statement from the South Korean company that was shared with Reuters.

“I extend a formal apology to all external artists mentioned in the document,” Jaesang wrote in Korean.

“I am also in the process of contacting each label directly to apologize, and meeting with all of the HYBE music group’s artists, who are now facing criticisms for actions taken solely by the company,” he added.

Fans in Oakland arrived dressed as both carats and carrots, brought posters of their favorite band members and passed out free handmade merchandise for other fans.

The U.S. portion of the tour began in Illinois in October and concluded in Los Angeles last Saturday and the group will now head to their Asia tour next.

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