Lee Seung Gi’s Korean Fan Club Publicly Protests His Relationship with Lee Da In

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• Why? Just why?

  • Celebrity culture being fuelled by personality to an unhealthy degree, leading fans to believe even a celeb's personal life is something they should have rights to control.

    It's one thing to get mad at dramas for this and that reason, they are publicly consumed media. But an individual's private relationship? This is really too much.

  • A lot of die-hard fans and fanclubs financially invest into making their idols as popular as they are (buying up CDs, concert tickets, sending foodtrucks etc.)

    They see themselves as financial backers or investors of the celebrity. So yes, LSG is an individual, but in the eyes of his fan club, also a commodity whom they've invested in for nearly two decades.

    Sucks for him right now, but that's the power game between celebs/fan clubs/ public opinion.

    • Was he ever an "idol", though? I always had the impression LSG was a solo artist and those guys don't generally have the same level of crazy overinvested fans who do this kind of stuff.

      Plus he's freaking 34 years old! If his fans have been with him since the beginning, that means they're adults too....adults in severe need of a reality check and to grow up.

    • Also I don't know why fans think buying goods = ownership of a celeb? I buy an album because I like the music in it and want to listen to it, that's the thing I get in return for my money, not the right to control the artist's life.

      Same with dramas, I watch them because I want to be entertained, my watching it doesn't = the right to tell the real-life actors what to do!

    • @RoyalWe

      Of course buying albums does not equal to ownership of the individual. The fanclub doesn't own him in the sense that they have no control over who LSG wants to date/marry. They're stating that they disapprove of his relationship and will (most likely) stop supporting him if he continues his relationship with LDI.

      The fact of the matter is, LSG's free to date whoever he wants if he doesn't mind losing a large part of his fanbase. When push comes to shove though, lots of celebrities would pick fans > romatic relationship. Let's see what he decides, I'm curious to see how this pans out.

    • Yeah, it's weird. I recently came to know that fans buy multiple CDs to support their idols and stream all day long just to make the "data" look good. I had no idea that the entertainment (music in particular) industry has degenerated to this state.

    • @Emmy - that's still a weird mentality, are they fans of him for his work and who are they to make his gf's family - not even she herself - a factor in whether to support him if it truly is just about work and entertainment?

      They are free to stop buying his CDs or watching his dramas, but then do that quietly, why make the big announcement unless it's with the intent of creating some self-righteous drama?

    • @kitai - I believe it's very common in kpop, no surprise the fans who do this are hardcore about it. But multiple CD buying is actually encouraged by the way kpop albums are marketed and packaged. Fans streaming at least costs little and doesn't have to involve spending money...still leads to unhealthy obsessions though.

    • @ Royal We

      I think for many fans its hard to clearly delineate LSG the artist with LSG the individual. Yes, they are fans of his music/acting/hosting, but they are also fans of the entire squeaky clean image/package that LSG (or his agency) has created throughout his career.

      It's why people stop following and supporting certain actors/singers when they get involved in scandals/crime/dating. Even if it may objectively seem trivial (e.g. LSG's just dating a random girl with shady parents), if the incident is enough to offend his die-hard fan club, he'll lose support.

      The fan club is making a big hoo-hah, because they have power, and are wielding it to try and influence LSG'S decisions on this matter. They've said their piece, now the ball's in his court

    • @Royal We

      I don't get the mentality though. It's like the fans are supporting the celebrities on their own. Then are they really "celebrities"? Isn't it meaningless if you release a song that only your fans "like" and listen to? It's as if they are in a bubble of their own. It's a waste of time, money and resources and just plain stupid imo.

• Welp. This is the downside of being a beloved celeb. You live by public opinion, you die by public opinion.

  • @Ophelia - sadly, I agree. No one would care about this if he wasn't so popular. But this protest truck business appears unique to East Asian ent, it's not a good feature.

• This is too much!!! Celebrities are humans too. I feel bad for him.

• Well his gf lives in multi million house build by scam. She is ok with her parents scamming. So he knows how east asian society works. Face it

• Considering how there was not a single scandal or negative news of Seunggi and his family during the whole 17years, and the way the personality and the image being portrayed of him and his family all this time, i think his fans and korean netizens probably treat him like their own golden son. I dont think his fans will bother if the lady is poor, not popular, not successful or what, but Dain's family issue is a very big condemnable issue in Korea. If seunggi is our son, how is our reaction?

  But seeing how the two even visited Seunggi's grandma, its either seunggi's family does not know/already forget about the issue or they just dont care or there is something that everyone else including korean netizen is not aware of.

  I am a fan of him, but just the kind of fan who looks forward to his work, who likes his work only when its good, so maybe thats why i dont really care about his relationship. But i understand the anxiety of his fans and korean netizen generally. Not saying i agree with their actions, but i understand their feeling.

  Whatever the outcomes, there is always pros and cons, risk to any decision we make in life. There are greater issue that needs our concern than the celebrity life. Thats why we need to be moderate in everything we do, and only do things sincerely without expecting anything in return.

• That is why k-celebs won't admit dating till they are caught. I truly feel sorry for LSG. I remember him having a heart to heart talk with Jasper Liu in their travel show about dating & marriage. SG said something about how hard it is to find/meet someone he likes when working in the entertainment world. He said he wasn't ready to get married until he's in late 30s or hit 40. Some K-fans act like they own their oppa. This is taking it too far. No wonder the suicide rate is high in K-ent. Celebs are human too. Their private lives are none of our business.

  • I agree. It wasn't his choice to have his relationship publicly outed like that, but even if it was - who are fans to tell him who he should and shouldn't be marrying? Or even making statements about how they "don't support" the relationship at all?

    His former agency really played dirty when they leaked the news (explains a lot about why so many k-celebs renew contracts with unsuitable companies), good on LSG for not being cowed at any rate.

    • Good for NJH and LJS, they left YG but no bad news about them. Artist should choose their company carefully.

    • @yui

      Probably because YG has many more popular artists under them.

      When Seunggi was in the military, the profit of his prior agency Hook dropped 87%.

    • And did not choose company when he started. He did not go for any audition. He was a model student during his high school, a president and active with his band singing rock songs. Hook discover him and train him.

    • @Yui - I believe some articles were released around the time LJS left YG, saying none of his cfs were renewed.. ...blatant attempt at smearing imo, even if it was on the artist himself and not his private life.

      But after seeing Kim Jung Hyun's case and now this, not to mention how Sidus HQ cloned Jun Ji Hyun's phone when she was in their agency so they could keep track of who she contacted....k-ent agencies can be real bullies.

    • @Wanne - 87 percent?! Damn! Was he their only artist or something, that is insane. But if he wanted to leave, after 17 years they should have let him go instead of engaging in these tactics.

• This is....really excessive imo. It's his private life, he didn't choose to reveal it, whatever his gf's parents sins are, she's not the scammer.

• I think it's funny when they justified that because they think LDI will ruin his career when now it's his own fans who are ruining everything...

  Poor LSG!

• I’m not concrete or certain with my thinking and therefore my opinion may change in the future but I think the fan club would have been okay if he was to date almost anyone as long as their record, including family record is almost spotless.

  I think his fans would even embraced her if she was to publicly denounce or criticize her parents in the past for their wrongdoings instead of supporting them by being silent about it publicly especially since she is also a public figure. IDK haha Maybe she will have a shot of winning them over if she does it now.

  • But it's not like they chose to reveal their relationship, and expecting the girl to disown her family over this to win some strangers' approval, is totally extreme.

• Lmao are people actually serious. LSG is a grown-ass man ffs. Can you imagine being >30 years old but having a bunch of rabid strangers tell you who you’re allowed to date. I really don’t care who LSG dates or marries but I’m hoping they last just to piss people off.

  • I would even understand if their objection was that Lee Da In herself did something bad, like getting into a DUI or scandal about her own conduct. At least then there's some grounds to say there's a flaw in her character etc etc

    But they're telling him not to date her because of who she's related to....ridiculous.

  • ??Spot on, well said!