SHINee's absence as a full-group at SMTOWN Concert has sparked conflicts among fans as the 'Find the culprit' game is intensifying over who is responsible for this.
On January 11 and 12, SM Entertainment held a joint concert at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul to commemorate its 30th anniversary. While most SM artists participated, only Minho and Key from SHINee attended. Onew and Taemin, who left SM Entertainment in March last year and signed with Griffin Entertainment and Big Planet Made, respectively, did not attend.
Fans who were expecting a complete group performance started to speculate about the reasons for Taemin and Onew's absence. Onew had just released his 4th minialbum 'CONNECTION' on January 6, while Taemin is in the middle of his first world tour, 'Ephemeral Gaze.' However, since there were no other scheduled events between his Macau concert on January 4th and his Mexico concert on January 28th, there was no reason why he couldn't have participated in the SMTOWN Live. However, while Onew appeared in SM's 30th-anniversary content, Taemin did not.
Initally, Onew faced criticism because there were claims that he was uncooperative with group activities after releasing his solo album to fulfill his individual schedule. In response, the CEO of Onew's agency expressed his dissatisfaction through his personal SNS account, saying, "We're constantly receiving cancellations for the same reason. How much longer are we supposed to wait? Isn't there a problem?". They claimed that it wasn't their fault. The CEO continued to express their dissatisfaction and also stated, "SM is doing a good job."
Because of the CEO of Onew's agency saying there were no problems between them and SM, attention turned to Taemin's agency, Big Planet Made. On the 15th, Big Planet Made released an official statement through their SNS. Big Planet Made stated, "We are aware of the concerns regarding Taemin's activities with SHINee," and added, "All the content recently posted on SNS contains clear false information, and we will take strong legal action against such false information."
Big Planet Made especially emphasized, "Our company always supports and encourages Taemin's activities with SHINee, which he greatly loves," and added, "We are doing our best to provide full support so that our artist can receive fair treatment and carry out his activities." The expression "fair treatment" in the statement has once again sparked a debate among fans over who is responsible.
The reason why fans are trying to find out the reason why plans SHINee's full-group performance fell through is ultimately due to disappointment. It's become common for idol groups whose contracts have ended to leave their original agencies but still agree to continue group activities. In fact, some groups have successfully managed to pursue both individual and group activities. However, it's also common for plans to fall through due to changes in circumstances and different agencies. Even so, constantly trying to find the cause or blame for these situations isn't always good for the group's future. Instead of focusing on finding someone to blame, it might be more helpful for fans to believe that they will eventually come back together.
Despite difficulties in coordinating between the agencies, the four members have consistently expressed their desire for a complete SHINee group activity. Key and Minho, while performing at the SM Town concert, promised to appear as a full group next time. Separately from the company's stance, Taemin emphasized on the 13th that, "I, along with the other members, want to protect SHINee and write many more stories." Onew also mentioned the value of group activities in an interview. We look forward to seeing SHINee return to alleviate the disappointment caused by the incomplete group activity.
-Poor Onew.
-I can't believe they stayed quiet when Onew was getting all the hate...ㅠ
-If the full-group performance wasn't important, why was Onew getting all the hate?? They spread rumors everywhere to the point even non-fans knew about itㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Taemin-ah, what is this... The way BPM picking a fight with SM makes them look like HYBE.
-No need to look for the culprit. It's obvious already.
-BPM is acting way too much like HYBE.
-The more they do this kind of media play, the more it seems like Taemin is the reason why the full-group performance fell apartㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Why did he join that company? I’m genuinely curious.
-Do they have no conscience?
-The one saying not to look for the culprit is usually the culpritㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-I didn’t like Onew, but this is very low of them.
-I guess they can't even deny it... They can only say 'don't look for the culrpit'...
-What’s with this 'culprit' nonsense? Where were articles like this when Onew was being getting all the hate?
-It would be better if they didn't do this kind of media playㅋㅋㅋ 'Unnecessary search for the culprit'ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Everyone already knows who the culprit is.
-I don't like Onew and frankly, I don't even know his face well. However, Taemin's side is so irritating. It's making his image getting worse.
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