VERIVERY's Minchan was involved in a controversy on January 6, 2021, when his remarks about female idol visuals on live streaming drew criticism from netizens. In response to the controversy, Minchan has released an apology.
During the live streaming footage that went viral, Minchan talked about one of the female idols he saw before debuting. He inadvertently evaluated his appearance.
"When in 3rd grade of middle school, someone transferred to our school. He transferred and was said to be a celebrity. [Kangmin: Is he still a celebrity?] I don't know. [Kangmin: Then isn't he our sunbae?] I don't know," said Minchan start the story.
"But if you search for the name of the group since then on Naver, it will come out. Not that there is an album or anything like that but somehow I know the name of the group and that she is a member (of the girl group) and it feels wow, a celebrity," he continued.
"But what should I say, my fantasy broke? At that time, I thought all celebrities would be beautiful and handsome and the real world but he was very familiar. And you know like seeing us now," added Minchan.
"People don't really do makeup to school like they do now. Her looks don't really stand out. So I just thought, oh she's just human. Celebrities are just ordinary people. But one day a white van came to pick her up."
After that, the other members can be heard telling Minchan that he shouldn't talk about his appearance and try to save the situation. "About 'his normal appearance...'" said Kangmin. Hoyoung replied, "That's what I said, why do you have to mention..."
Minchan defended himself, "I mean, that's how I saw it back then… my personal opinion…" Kangmin said, "I mean, like if people see how we are behind the scenes, their fantasy will also be crushed."
The video containing Minchan's comments finally went viral on social media and the idol faced strong reactions for it. "The children next to him tried to save the situation with all their might, but he continued to speak badly so they couldn't save him. He was so careless," commented a netizen.
"He keeps talking and doesn't understand that the people next to him are trying to stop him," added another netizen. "He should have stopped when the member next to him kept trying to control him by saying he was a sunbae. What kind of idol talks like he's gossiping in a regular bar? He sounds like a high school graduate," wrote another netizen.
"Other members tried to save him but he kept exploding. Evaluating his appearance is the problem, but he is very unwise and the whole conversation is full of looking down on him. This is very uncomfortable. What crimes have fans committed to have to listen to this," concluded another.
Live broadcasts were quickly removed from replay. Minchan immediately uploaded an apology to the group's official SNS channel.
Hello. This is Minchan. I sincerely apologize to those who felt uncomfortable with my words on the January 6 live broadcast. In the future, I will be careful with my words so that something similar doesn't happen and I will be someone who acts carefully in everything," he wrote.
Minchan continued, "I will contact the relevant parties directly to apologize. Once again, I want to apologize and will deeply reflect on my careless actions and words."
Meanwhile, VERIVERY is a 7-member group under Jellyfish Entertainment. They debuted in 2018. (wk/chus)
