A member of Carat fandom spoke up to rescue SEVENTEEN from "gay" controversy following a meet and greet event where the members participated in a "Pepero" game. After the fun event, the boy group became the subject of an online post titled, "SEVENTEEN's gay acts during meet and greet controversy."
"Pepero" game can be compared to Pass-The-Card kissing game, where participants need to pass the card using their mouth. But instead of cards, players of the latter game are required to pass a stick of Pepero to his/her pair using their mouth.
As a response to the malicious article by an unknown writer, a SEVENTEEN fan shared her thoughts about the issue. According to Allkpop, the fan's reply is titled, "Come at me bro: Rebuttal against SEVENTEEN gay controversy."
The Carat pointed out two points in her post: The use of "gay behavior," which the fan thought implicated bad connotation about male homosexuals; and posting photos of the "Pepero" game without explanations.
"This is not only a discourtesy to SEVENTEEN but also to everyone who identify as gay," the fan wrote. She even accused the writer of the malicious post of intentionally failing to provide explanations of the photos to mislead new fans.
"First, I want to clarify that all the pictures included in the original post are showing the members taking part in the "Pepero" game during their meet and greet with fans, and there is absolutely nothing "controversial" about them," the Carat said.
Meanwhile, many Carats agreed to the post made by their co-fan. Some of them even laughed at the malicious rumors thrown at SEVENTEEN just because of the "Pepero" game. "Everyone who was insulting [SEVENTEEN] for being "gay" would stay mum if they saw other people play the same game hahaha."
Amid "gay" controversy, SEVENTEEN members are taking their first-ever break since their debut last year, Soompi noted. According to a source, the boy group is planning to take a two-week off from all their activities, however, this might change depending on their schedule.
Since the group was introduced to the public, they have been making appearances in several programs. In April, SEVENTEEN has finally released their first album titled, "Love & Letter," which was followed by a repackage version in July.
Aside from that, the boy group also held "2016 SEVENTEEN 1st Asia Tour: Shining Diamonds" in Japan, Singapore, Australia, China, Korea and was capped off in Taiwan on Sept. 11.
