In Romeo And Juliet, William Shakespeare wrote, “Fortune is fickle as she is fair.”
The Korean entertainment industry exemplifies the precariousness of fortune and fame.
Every year, seemingly out of nowhere, Korean netizens rally behind someone to shoot them over the moon to become a star.
The spark to fame may be lit by a fancam like in EXID Hani’s case, or more recently, the idol group Brave Girls.
A viral meme can also be a ticket to stardom, as in Jo Se Ho‘s case.
Dancer Noze received her ticket when the show Mnet‘s Street Woman Fighter became a national phenomenon.
The dancer, in particular, stood out due to her good looks and awesome dancing skills.
After the show, the dancer was one of Korean Variety Program’s most in-demand guests.
Brand endorsements soon lined up for the dancer. From smaller domestic brands to Gucci, it seemed everyone wanted to work with her.
That is until an exclusive report came out alleging that Noze had discriminated against smaller brands.
The report alleged that the dancer took advantage of smaller brands that sponsored posts and then deleted the sponsored posts not long after uploading them.
The report pointed out how the dancer has deleted all posts with smaller brands, and only posts with larger brands are on her page.
Netizens expressed their disappointment and accused the dancer of taking advantage of smaller brands.
- “Wow, I’m no longer a fan… I guess the taste of money changes you in an instant.”
- “Wow ₩30.0 million KRW (about $23,200 USD) for an Instagram post? I would keep that post forever, she’s so full of herself.”
- “Deleting sponsored posts from smaller brands but keeping the posts from luxury brands is so shady, LOL.”
It seems public sentiment towards the dancer had changed drastically overnight.
On July 10, the dancers of Street Woman Fighter held a concert at Seoul Olympic Park.
At the concert, the dancer seemed overwhelmed by the criticism and broke down. Noze told fans how much all of the dancers missed their fans.
[220710 D-2 SWF REUNION CONCERT]
noze mustve been holding back these emotions for quite sometime now. she couldnt help but bawl her eyes out when it was her turn to speak :( #노제 #NOZE pic.twitter.com/SWqIhADTjs
— noze planet (@saintnoze) July 10, 2022
We waited a long time for the concert. We really missed the stage. We all worked really hard for this. Please just know that.
— Noze
Although the fans in the audience cheered on the dancer, netizens’ responses to the dancer’s tears were much colder.
- “Why is she crying? The person who should be crying is the advertisers. Did she think everything would be alright if she cried?”
- “What is wrong with her? Just because her die-hard fans are protecting her, she really thinks she’s not in the wrong.”
- “I hope she doesn’t come out on TV anymore.”
- “Why is she using the word We? By using that word, she made it seem like everyone had been criticizing all of the dancers. Why is she hiding behind them?”
- “If she had cried after acknowledging her mistakes, it would have been better. But this makes it seem like she’s playing the victim. It’s so disappointing as she is so pretty and seemed like a good person.”
- “Why is she turning her mistake into a ‘we’ problem? Is she gaslighting us? You should just apologize. No one else is blaming any of the other dancers.”
Whether the dancer will be able to turn public sentiment remains to be seen. What are your thoughts? Do you feel the controversy is overblown?
