KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Overzealous fans protesting the return of member Hong Seung-han to Kpop boyband Riize after his scheduled return after a hiatus, may have gotten their way — but at a very high price.
Sending dozens of condolence wreaths to the office of its agency SM Entertainment in protest, it was a short-lived celebration for those who had protested his return — despite at least one more fellow member in Wonbin pleading for support — when the idol himself chose to withdraw from the group permanently after the backlash.
In just over a day, fans of the boyband around the world have called for a total boycott of the group in response to what they considered bullying by not those fans (or antis) but also SM Entertainment.
And the move seems to be hitting the act hard, more than just the performative act of sending funeral flowers as done the other group of fans who were against his return.
Social media
The most noticeable impact of the fan boycott is reflected in social media following numbers of the group.
• X — the boyband has gone from 810,978 to 730,702, losing 80,276 followers.
• TikTok — from 3,543,847, the boyband has dipped to 3,423,6102, down 120,475
• Instagram — the biggest hit comes from Instagram where the band which boasted 4,158,407 followers, now stands at 3,928,764m down 229,643. The group’s three Japanese accounts on the same platforms have also lost a combined total of more than 25,000.
• Spotify/YouTube — the group’s numbers of both platforms average over 20,000 respectively.
Protests
Local as well as international fans took to protesting at SM Entertainment offices — in a less dramatic but more impactful manner — by hiring trucks.
Total boycott
Fans have also taken to boycotting every media of content from Riize, including its albums and merchandise with many cancelling pre-orders.
Kpop retailers around the world
The 21-year-old Seunghan was suspended from the group in November 2023 after a leak of private, pre-Riize photos and videos in August that showed the star kissing an unidentified woman in a bed and smoking a cigarette which is a no-no for more conservative, moral codes imposed by fans on idols.
