NCT’s Jeno Becomes The First To Talk About Taeil Since His Expulsion And Sex Crime Scandal
Content Warning
In August 2024, SM Entertainment announced that Taeil would no longer be a member of NCT due to a then-unspecified sex crime.
As the investigation continued, more details were released, including the nature of the sex crime and how long Taeil had been under investigation. SM Entertainment would terminate his contract in October as former fans questioned the company.
SM Entertainment’s Actions Scrutinized In The Wake Of Former NCT Member Taeil’s Rape Charge
Since then, traces of the former NCT member have been removed, and until recently, no members had mentioned him.
On February 7, KST, NCT’s Jeno held a live stream on Weverse, where he interacted with fans.
At one point, fans brought up the NCT content, It’s Awkward But It’s Ok, a program where members who were not as familiar with each other were paired up to interact.
He addressed comments about how fans wanted him to take an AWSAZ photo with Jisung despite the two being familiar, leading him to speak more about the subject. Jeno then mentions his own episode from 2020, when he appeared with Taeil.
Jeno mentions that he appeared with Taeil, before abruptly stopping and covering his mouth. The idol continues speaking saying that the person who he took the photo with he did not consider himself to be close with him after appearing on the show before stating that he would be moving on from the topic.
Taeil and I— oops. The member whom I took the AWSAZ picture with… I don’t know if I could say that we became closer friends just because we posed for that picture together. Let’s move on!
— Jeno
This marked the first time Taeil had been mentioned by any of the members since his sex crime was revealed.
You can read the latest updates on the case below.
