When K-pop and K-drama fans turn sour: Exo’s Chen and Baekhyun, Girls’ Generations’ Taeyeon and, most recently, Lee Do-hyun have all been the subjects of social media scandals – but why?

Nov 5 , 2020

Taeyeon from Girls' Generation, Lee Do-hyun, and Chen from Exo. Photo: @taeyeon_ss, @ldh_sky, @chen.exox / Instagram

Lee Do-hyun’s fans were in an uproar this week because he didn’t say thank you for a gift, but this isn’t the first time a South Korean star has faced a social media backlash – so have Super Junior’s Sungmin and Ze:a’s Kim Dong-jun

Korean idols are nothing without their fans. The fans of K-pop and K-drama stars are particularly supportive (and also, at times, slightly scary), buying up concert tickets, albums and merchandise and even splurging on extravagant gifts for idols on their birthdays.

But while fans’ support is a blessing, provoking fans’ disappointment or anger can be a curse. K-drama star Lee Do-hyun discovered as much this week when he became the subject of criticism over a fan gift.

Read on for the full story – and four other times K-pop and K-drama fans felt wronged by their favourites, and how they responded.

Lee Do-hyun

Lee Do-hyun has earned the nickname “melodrama prince” for his performances in Hotel del Luna, Still 17 and Prison Playbook. But the rising K-drama star recently found himself embroiled in online melodrama surrounding a fan gift.

Lee was born in 1995, the year of the pig, according to the Chinese zodiac. So to celebrate his birthday one year, fans gifted him a pig hat.

That might not sound particularly fraught so far, but the uproar started a few days ago when an Instagram photo surfaced showing a woman wearing the hat – allegedly the exact same hat that fans had gifted Lee. The photo had also been “liked” by an account that fans suspect to be Lee’s private account.

The post soon went viral and accusations swiftly followed. Not only did fans speculate that the woman is Lee’s girlfriend, but they were also steamed that Lee hadn’t thanked them for the gift. (K-pop stars typically pose with their fan gifts and post the photos to their social media accounts to say thank you.)