Did Blackpink’s Jennie violate social distancing rules? BTS member Jungkook, G-Dragon and more K-pop idols who faced scrutiny for alleged Covid-19 fails

Apr 28 , 2021

K-pop idols U-Know Yunho, Blackpink’s Jennie and G-Dragon all have one thing in common – having been called out on social media for apparently failing to meet social distancing expectations. Photo: @yunho2154; @jennierubyjane/Instagram, Chanel

Blackpink member Jennie was called out for breaking social distancing rules when she uploaded a picture of herself and six friends eating ice cream on Instagram

Jungkook from BTS, U-Know Yunho, Cha Eun-woo and more idols have faced public scrutiny for allegedly falling short of Korea’s pandemic prevention restrictions

We all have our part to play in combating the pandemic, and naturally celebrities are under added pressure to play by the rules. In South Korea especially, K-pop idols are expected to uphold strong moral values, and are often under extra scrutiny when it comes to what they upload to Instagram and social media.

Blackpink’s Jennie is perhaps the most high-profile celebrity to have been called out, recently accused of breaking social distancing rules. Let’s take a closer look at the evidence and hark back to some other idols who have apologised in the past for falling short.

So what exactly did Jennie do?

Blackpink has grabbed fans’ attention because of ice cream once again – but not in a good way this time.

The furore began when Jennie uploaded photos of her visit to an arboretum in Paju city on April 14. Not only did her post include a picture of her without a face mask on, but a group shot showed her and six friends holding ice creams – which understandably fired up her account’s comments section given the five-person maximum gathering rule currently imposed in Korea. As the issue heated up, Jennie hastily deleted and re-did her post with the ice cream group shot removed.

Netizens counted seven hands holding ice creams – despite rules capping gatherings at five in Korea. Photo: @jennierubyjane/Instagram

On April 16, the arboretum posted a statement on its official blog page stating that Jennie and her crew visited to film a YouTube video for business purposes, and Paju’s city office also confirmed that the agency submitted an application and approval form to use the filming location in advance.

However, the debate continues as Seoul city government’s official website states that filming for YouTube is unlike TV shows and films, and is not to be excused from the five people only gathering rule.

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