BOYS24's Hwayoung is currently in hot water after he was caught red-handed for criticizing K-Pop fans in general. On Tuesday, an audio file of the idol's rude remarks about fans was uploaded on the internet.
According to Koreaboo, Hwayoung expressed his disgust towards K-Pop fans calling him "oppa." The BOYS24 member was even yakking explicit words while he talked about his annoyance.
"I like being called oppa, not when I hear it from fans though. I [explicit] hate that. Ya, [explicit]. It's so annoying when we do the Hi-Touch," he said, referring to aftershow events.
Hwayoung went on, "You know, the Hi-Touch? Like when you hold hands and greet fans after the concert is over. Everyday I go through like 700 to 800 people and I feel like I'm going to puke."
Shortly after the controversial audio went viral, CJ E&M released a statement to apologize for Hwayoung's remarks about K-Pop fans. The label admitted they have been warning the idol for his privacy issue.
"But despite it all, Hwayoung, as written on the various social media outlets and Internet message board today, brought fans to grief and made them disappointed again," CJ E&M said.
The label acknowledged the weight of Hwayoung's act and promised to come up with a decision next week. For the meantime, CJ E&M announced the member will have to miss "BOYS24 LIVE Concert" starting Feb. 10.
Meanwhile, K-Pop fans fired back at Hwayoung for his rude comments. Most of them claimed they do not even know the idol until his controversial statements surfaced.
"It's funny because I don't even know who this dude is and here he is talking about his "fans." The career you might have had for a few months is over now," a netizen wrote.
Before Hwayoung's audio file was leaked on the internet, Doha's Instagram account was also hacked by an unknown perpetrator. Allkpop reported the BOYS24 member's SNS profile uploaded random photos of women.
After learning about the hacking incident, Doha immediately deleted the photos uploaded by the hacker.