4 Times Red Velvet’s Irene Ignored SM’s Rules To Make Everyone Else Happy

Irene said f*ck the rules.

Companies tend to impose a lot of rules on their idols, but Irene never lets SM Entertainment’s restrictions stop her. Here are 4 times she ignored her company’s rules to make her members and her fans happy.

1. When she got the crowd singing for Wendy

On the lucky occasion when a concert coincides with an idol’s birthday, companies typically let fans plan special events like birthday cake and singing. But while SM Entertainment did let ReVeluvs plan an event for Redmare in Vancouver on Wendy’s actual birthday, they declined the proposal for an event at Redmare in Toronto a few days earlier.

Of course, since Wendy grew up in Toronto, fans really wanted to give her an extra birthday treat. Those attending the concert were very disheartened when the proposal was declined. Many even considered ignoring SM Entertainment’s rules and singing “Happy Birthday” regardless. But in the end, they didn’t have to—Irene did it for them.

After Irene gave a speech during her talk time, she brought up Wendy’s birthday to the crowd and said everyone should sing “Happy Birthday” to her—just as they’d wanted to.

2. When she wore a fan’s headband gift

Everyone loves public fansigns. Not only do a lucky few fans get to meet their idols, it’s also a tradition for them to bring along funny and cute accessories like headbands and hats. The fansites in attendance take photos of idols wearing the accessories to share with everyone who couldn’t be there, making public fansigns a day for the entire fanbase.

But during a public fansign for “Zimzalabim” at Everland theme park, SM Entertainment threw a spanner in the works. ReVeluvs brought along plenty of cute headbands they’d purchased at Everland, but at the last minute, the company told the fans they weren’t allowed to give them to the idols due to time constraints.

Irene must have seen how disappointed the fans were, because she ignored SM Entertainment’s rules completely and took a cute black bunny ear headband from one of the ReVeluvs in attendance. She even carried on wearing it while they performed that day.

3. When she gave every fan the time they deserved

That wasn’t the only “Zimzalabim” fansign where SM Entertainment disappointed fans. At an earlier event, all the ReVeluvs in attendance reported that the company rushed the event and even manhandled fans to move them along quicker. But despite the security guards’ efforts, Irene did her best to make sure every ReVeluv got to have a special time.

4. When she posted her photocards on Instagram

The selfies on K-Pop photocards are supposed to be exclusive. That way, fans buy more albums to collect them. But if SM Entertainment has told Red Velvet to keep her photocard pics off social media, she definitely hasn’t paid any attention.

Irene has uploaded several of her photocard selfies to Instagram after the albums were released, including pics from The ReVe Festival: Day 1 and The ReVe Festival: Finale. She even uploaded a photocard from a Kihno album as a profile picture, despite these photocards being worth even more.

Red Velvet