The controversy over Irene's attitude has put the girl band Red Velvet in a tough spot. Despite the singer apologizing personally to the stylist for her rude behavior, the group continues to get hate messages. The negative attitude toward Irene has led to the group pulling out of 2020 Korean Cultural Festival and the group is also said to have cancelled its online fanmeet planned on the occasion.
A stylist who had worked with Irene had put up a post on Instagram, explaining how the singer had insulted and humiliated her. Though she had not mentioned Irene's name, netizens were quick in finding out that she was referring to Irene considering the hashtags of singles that involved the singer. When the issue was blown up on the social media along with news websites carrying the article, Irene met and personally apologized to the stylist.
However, despite Irene's apology, the issue has been blowing out of proportion as many other stylists also came out and started speaking against Irene's poor attitude toward her staff. This also included her agency SM Entertainment staff.
Stylists Defending Irene
But Ellena Yim, working as stylist with SM Entertainment came to Irene's rescue and said that there are always two sides to every story. Ellena confirmed that she had never experienced any rude behavior from Irene while working with her. She said that Irene was straightforward while expressing her dissatisfaction about costume and make up, but had never abused her power. Ellena also said that on multiple occasions she had seen Irene expressing her gratitude toward her staff for good work. "I'm just taken back that she has become the center of the controversies of abusing her powers over the staff," she wrote.
Taking Irene's side, the head of fashion data at Omnious stated that it was unfortunate that people don't want to look at the other side of the story. "Irene was known as a trustworthy leader and loyal coworker, but that title is taken over by the poor attitude controversy. I hope people can take an interest in the other side of the story," reported AllKpop quoting Omnious official.
Stylist Saebom Kwak, who worked with Red Velvet for their La Rouge concert, sympathized with the accusers but also said it is important to know the full story before coming to a conclusion. Irene's agency SM Entertainment also issued a statement and confirmed that Irene had personally apologized to the stylist.
Red Velvet Out of K-Culture Festival
In an exclusive report, Herald Pop stated that Red Velvet was pulling out of the popular Korean Culture Festival. Red Velvet was a global ambassador for the Culture Festival, but due to negative image of the group following Irene controversy, the group is said to have decided not to take part in the event.
The group also had planned a YouTube Live fanmeeting while celebrating the festival. But now the Kpop group will not be taking part in the fanmeet as well as the festival. However, official confirmation by the agency and Red Velvet is awaited.
