SEOUL, Oct 12 — Fans of Kpop boyband Riize yesterday flooded the office of entertainment company SM Entertainment with dozens of funeral wreaths in response to the return of suspended member, Hong Seung-han, or Seunghan, to the boyband.
The company had announced Seunghan’s suspension in November, due to an August 2023 leak of private, pre-Riize photos and videos that showed the star kissing an unidentified woman in a bed and smoking a cigarette.
The readmission of the former member who was halfted from all activities involving the group for 10 months, has not gone down well fans since the announcement of the company yesterday that he would resume activities with Riize from next month.
Seunghan’s return has been opposed by fans as well as employees of SM Entertainment. — Picture from Instagram/seunghan_riize
Upset fans sent dozens of funeral wreaths to the SM Entertainment building demanding Seunghan’s exit from the group with messages like “Hong Seunghan Out”, “Seunghan leave Riize”, “Exit Riize”, “Hong Seunghan buzz off”, “Freeloader Seunghan exit” and more.
Despite SM Entertainment saying that the decision was made after speaking with the group members who backed his return, company employees have also anonymously lashed out at the decision, reported Allkpop.
On Blind — an anonymous online community where users can posts and leave comments after verifying their employment at a company — staff members hit out at SM Entertainment for the decision which at least one individual saying was catering only to international fans and ignoring the group’s local fanbase who were against the reinclusion of Seunghan.
