In which things continue to remain sticky for After School and Pledis.

[jewelia13.livejournal.com]

Following the shutdown of several After School fan sites and Raina's deletion of her tweets, new information has come forward regarding the incident (as well as more allegations). Several AS fan sites have come together to make "AfterSchoolfan.com", where they explained their reasoning for their boycott, and also to accuse AS' manager of both verbal and physical abuse of fans and also alleging that he talked about both the fans and After School behind their backs.

CEO Jung Hae Chang released an official statement, saying "Regarding these issues presented by the fans, we will do a thorough internal investigation and take proper action against those responsible.”

As a result of this, the fan clubs taking part in the boycott posted an official apology themselves, saying:

“We sincerely apologize to any After School members who were affected due to our misunderstanding. What started the boycott was the ‘Idol Futsal World Cup,” which happened recently, and it was before fans knew about what happened before and after the recording. Because we were just relying on what the agency had said, we became angry at the After School members. We have now found out that the After School members did try to meet us, but because of miscommunication through Pledis, it didn’t happen.”

“We initially expressed our position unilaterally, and realize there must have been a misunderstanding in our explanation of events. Because of this, the incident blew out of proportion, and we apologize for not catching this earlier and diffusing the situation before it got out of hand.”

Interestingly, the claims regarding AS' manager were not mentioned or explained in the apology.


1. [+919, -26] Seems like it's over for them when they've already been on the downfall

2. [+845, -7] They should show at least the minimum amount of respect for their fans when their income relies on them.

3. [+634, -159] So stop wasting your time and money chasing after stars like that and invest that money into improving yourself tsk tsk.

4. [+62, -0] But for fans to close down their fansites means a lot has been building up. They should realize that one fan who turns against you is scarier than 10 antis.

5. [+31, -1] Hul... turned all their fans into antis in one moment. Amazing.
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1. [+679, -4] There is nothing scarier than a fan who turns on you because they can be the biggest anti... They should've looked after their fans no matter how lazy they were.

2. [+595, -3] What is so hard about acknowledging your fans when without them, you wouldn't even be filming that very show... All fans ever want is a wave hello, simple things like that...

3. [+497, -6] After School itself was never a popular group aside from Orange Caramel, especially considering how long they're into their debut... I bet the members don't care for the group as a whole and are just looking to individually do well so that they can go into acting later. Their real interests lie in acting and other individual activities, they have no investment in the group itself.
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1. [+3,927, -210] Please discipline the members more than the staff. Especially Nana.

2. [+3,167, -50] Why do the staff matter when they should be managing their artists since they're the ones treating their fans like fools ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

3. [+2,486, -27] Fixing up the agency only after they've lost their fans

4. [+2,423, -47] Disciplining their staff won't solve the problem, the problem is their artists not thinking of their fans

5. [+513, -10] T-ara: 'Welcome! It's your first time facing utter failure, right?'

6. [+501, -6] Way to put all of the blame on the staff;;; Fans said the members didn't greet them too..

7. [+417, -5] It's not because of the staff that fans are upset, it's because of the members

8. [+278, -5] Disciplining the staff won't do anything. Teach After School how to do fan service and be grateful to their fans. Honestly, After School is not in a good place and are at risk of losing their income if they lose their fans. Yell at the members to do better to their fans and help them self reflect.
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1. [+872, -16] They're suddenly trying to resolve all of this hastily

2. [+645, -40] The Pledis agency is the wrong in all of this but I heard that the fans who put out that union are close friends in real life who have their own fandom 'empire' created amongst themselves and are on personal speaking terms with the members as well... Whatever they wanted, they made sure the agency complied with, and staff were changed several times as per their request. Seems like an instance where they weren't given the special treatment like usual made them hyper angry and write up that boycott union only to have it backfire with the members getting all the hate. Real After School fans then turned on them and they had to take back their boycott... tsk tsk.

3. [+477, -38] They lost some of the few fans they have left. It's important to be nice to begin with. Yoo Jae Suk isn't the top for 10 years now for no reason.

4. [+379, -15] No point in them making up with the fans and reconciling everything when the public is already aware of what happened.

5. [+125, -0] The agency, fans, members.. are all weird.

6. [+111, -1] I don't think it was a simple misunderstanding when all recording long, the members didn't look at their fans... Other idols were so busy giving fan service to their fans in that time.

7. [+85, -0] Looks like the members gave them a call and made them make up by letting them listen to their voices ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

8. [+84, -1] They caused all this fuss and now they made up? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is this a joke?

9. [+67, -6] They basically called up a few of their otaku fans and let them hear their voices so of course the fans are going to take it back.

10. [+55, -6] As expected of fans from singers such as them. Stupid of both of them. From now on, After School and their fans better shut up. Did they think they were shooting a movie on their own just now? Talk about a joke.

11. [+47, -4] Did the agency give the fans some money? Just yesterday they were acting as if they weren't going to see them ever again and now they reconciled?? Something smells.

12. [+38, -3] Make up all you want, your image is already down the drain and nobody cares anymore.


Sources: Soompi, Netizenbuzz 1, Netizenbuzz 2, Wiki K-Pop, K-Pop, K-Fans

Clarification: The "especially Nana" bit is referring to a recent incident in which Nana greeted CL in a... rather over-the-top way, making CL feel uncomfortable. Netizens flipped out on Nana, saying she needed to learn better manners and treat her seniors with more respect.