“The Hollywood Reporter” Faces Backlash For Mentioning SHINee’s Jonghyun

Fans are calling out “The Hollywood Reporter” for “disrespecting” Jonghyun in a BTS article.

The Hollywood Reporter is receiving heat from K-Pop fans, following the release of their October edition.

 

On October 2, The Hollywood Reporter revealed their latest issue, featuring BTS on the cover and within its pages. Many fans who had looked forward to the article were left angry and disappointed after reading it.

 

ARMYs are accusing The Hollywood Reporter of spreading misinformation about BTS, misquoting RM, and perpetuating stereotypes of the K-Pop industry, but they aren’t the only ones up in arms. Shawols, as well as fans from other K-Pop fandoms, are also expressing their outrage.

 

The Hollywood Reporter describes K-Pop as “part Motown, part Hunger Games” and its trainee programs as militant “training camps”.

Thousands of wannabe K-pop stars compete at regular American Idol-style cattle calls. Those lucky enough to make it to the next level spend years learning their craft inside secretive K-pop training camps, where they’re sometimes subjected to dangerous diets, strict social rules (no dating), grueling rehearsal schedules and mandated plastic surgery and skin-whitening procedures.

— The Hollywoord Reporter

 

Following the above passage, the tragic passing of SHINee‘s Jonghyun was used as an example of just how brutal the industry can be.

Only the best of the best wind up in an actual K-pop band — while some don’t survive at all. In 2017, the industry drew intense scrutiny after a member of SHINee, another popular K-pop band, took his own life, writing in his suicide note that he felt “broken on the inside.”

— The Hollywood Reporter

 

Many Shawols feel that mentioning Jonghyun in this context was not only unnecessary, but disrespectful.

 

Some claim that Jonghyun’s mention in the article, as well as the article’s stereotypical portrayal of the K-Pop industry, is an ongoing trend in the media that needs to end.

 

At present, The Hollywood Reporter has not issued an official statement to address the backlash.

ARMY Slams Hollywood Reporter’s BTS Feature, Defends RM

Source: The Hollywood Reporter