Dive Studios Host Under Fire For “Unbelievable” Sexist And Fatphobic Comments
One of the hosts of Dive Studios‘ newest programs is catching heat for what many call fatphobic and sexist comments.
Dive Studios is home to a variety of programs, including Daebak Show w/ Eric Nam and Get Real. Many of the shows, including Hwaiting, feature English-speaking idols like AleXa, Jamie, and Ashley Choi.
On July 27, Dive Studios teased its newest program, revealing that WayV‘s Ten and Yangyang, alongside solo singer Han Heejun, would be presenting a new program called Unbelievable. The show was set to be a debate-style program with Heejun serving as the moderator between the two.
The first episode was released on August 3, and fans were excited about the new content. Unfortunately, the episode took an unexpected and, what many consider, offensive turn within the first couple of minutes.
While explaining the concept, Heejun offers a “sexist” and “fatphobic” example of an “Unbelievable” TMI story, saying that he visited his hairstylist and couldn’t believe how pretty she was after losing weight.
I went to the hair shop and my designer lost her weight. I had no idea she was that pretty before she lost that weight.
— Heejun
In addition to this, during a portion of the show, when they were discussing a sent-in letter requesting advice about when to tell a child the truth about Santa Claus, Heejun added some unnecessary comments about weight.
Many fans watching the show found this distasteful and wondered how such comments could be aired. Dive Studios also is behind Mindset, an app, and program centered around mental health, making this incident even more disappointing for many viewers.
on another note, those “jokes” are very disgusting and the fact that it wasn’t edited out is even more disappointing. we are all here to support ten and yangyang, not to hear a random man make fatphobic remarks to try to be funny.
hope you guys do something @thedivestudios :) pic.twitter.com/nVqSzXK5hG— surreal wayv clips (@surrealwyvclips) August 4, 2023
yangyang and ten's faces when heejun was telling that tmi… i personally do not want to be on the receiving end of yangyang's stare. ten just blinking repeatedly as if he can't believe what he's hearing and his smile fading… please don't set them up like this @thedivestudios… pic.twitter.com/MXragw8wDA
— Ellie (@weishellie) August 4, 2023
Following the initial backlash, the episode removed the sections where Heejun made the comments, but many fans are not satisfied with this. While they did remove the problematic commentary, no statement was released at the time of writing.
considering that you have an app dedicated to self care and mental health, i think it would be better to address this properly instead of sneakily removing those parts (and make sure it never happens again) ! @thedivestudios #UNBELIEVABLEShow #DIVEStudios
— surreal wayv clips (@surrealwyvclips) August 4, 2023
Editing it out doesn't change the fact that we all know Heejun is an unrepentant sexist, fat phobic person and all that Dive Studios will apparently do is try to cover it up and not take any accountability. Even more disappointed and I didn't think I could be. Unbelievable. Lol https://t.co/6HgGkE0z8C
— chenace to society (@acaffeination) August 4, 2023
Not @thedivestudios editing out Heejun’s problematic statements, but not issuing an apology or acknowledging it in any other way… Totally insufficient response and he still needs to be removed from the show. Ten and YangYang don’t need him and they were obviously uncomfortable. https://t.co/meJF59L7Cr
— ange⁰-¹ ✿ zb1 3rd win! (@toomanycute) August 4, 2023
You can check out the edited episode below.
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