2023 NCT Hotel Incident

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Event
Event: NCT hotel break-in
Participants: Judy (@sunkissedviews) and NCTzens (more broadly kpop stan twitter)
Date(s): August 20-22, 2023
Type: Scandal
Fandom: NCT (NCTzens)
URL:
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In 2023, a series of videos was posted by American Twitter user @sunkissedviews (known hereafter by her name "Judy"[1]) purporting to show a hotel room of members of the k-pop boy group NCT. The post was widely circulated around kpop stan twitter with fans condemning the behavior and accusing Judy of being a sasaeng fan. Eventually, widespread fan outcry lead to SM Entertainment (NCT's label) announcing that it would be taking legal action.

Events

The Tweet

Prior to the incident, Judy was known in the NCT fan community for being an alleged American sasaeng, or stalker, fan.[2] On August 20, 2023, Judy responded to a CuriousCat message stating "you’d have so many cute stories to tell about the members but nctzens wanna be annoying" with " i have soooo many cute stories."[3] She then quote-tweeted this tweet and shared video footage of the inside of a hotel room with the caption "this was rushed bc the circumstances buttttt that hotel key card though."[4] The hotel room in the video was identified as having been that of NCT member Jaehyun from the band's U.S. tour in October of 2022.[5][6] [7] Jaehyun's personal belongings and stage outfits are visible in the footage, and fans recognized the hotel room from a live streams NCT members released during the tour. [5]

Fan Response

The tweet quickly spread throughout the NCTzen fan community along with the broader English-language kpop communuty. Fans condemned Judy's actions, determining that she (for legal purposes, allegedly) broke into the unoccupied hotel room after stealing the hotel key card.[5] [6] [7][8] Outraged fans took to reporting the incident as a crime to SM Entertainment, with users sharing guides on how to report the behavior to the company's Kwangya 119 system.[9] The controversy became a hot topic of discussion over the next few days.

In a now deleted Reddit post on r/legaladvice, user hngye (who claimed to be a friend of Judy) described the situation, stating that Judy posted the videos to intentionally "anger kpop fans." The poster inquired as to the possible legal ramifications she might face.[10] [11]

The controversy would also spread to the Korean-spaeking fandom as well. [9][12]

Other Incidents Involving Judy & Friends

The @sunkissedviews account was created at some point in December of 2015. [13]

Judy was alleged to have participated in sasaeng behavior as far back as 2017. [9] [12] The earliest documented instances of Judy's behavior can be traced to 2019, however. [14] On May 1, 2019, Twitter user @dayflyaway posted an extensive call-out thread about Judy's behavior. [15]

Overall, Judy was infamous for having attended nearly half of NCT's concerts in the United States, usually sitting close to the front. [13] She had been known to participate in mobbing artists at airports and following members to their hotel rooms.[13] [16]

Judy was identified as one of the girls who be spotted stalking members of NCT out on a snow day excursion in Chicago on the Johnny's Communication Channel vlog "Sledding is Fun! A Fine Day in Chicago❄️ with YT, DY, MK" which was uploaded on February 27, 2023 to the NCT YouTube channel. [13] [16]

Judy's Defense

On August 20th, Judy responded to the drama sharing a screenshot of text messages with a friend in which she claimed that she had obtained the key card from the members themselves.[17] As to how this happened, Judy refused to elaborate and encouraged others to "whatever fan theories y’all want." [18] Overall, fans did not buy Judy's claim. [9]

Fans speculated that, instead of being given access by the members, Judy may have accessed key card by either bribing hotel employees or was enabled by SM staff (which has been known to happen with sasaengs).[19] [20] [21]

Judy also shared a screenshot of her applying for help from her university's Student Legal Services department, claiming that she was going to sue SM. This resulted in many users joking about university students having to defend Judy in court.[22]

SM Entertainment Statement

After many fans reported the video to NCT's company, SM Entertainment, the agency released a statement regarding the matter.[23] On August 22nd, company representatives released a statement declaring, "“The leaked video is an illegal act that severely violates the artist’s privacy. We are collecting evidence against the initial uploader and all those who distribute the video. We will request the cooperation of domestic and international sites as well as legal firms to ensure a thorough investigation is conducted by law enforcement agencies.”[5]

As of July 2024, no concrete proof that Judy faced legal consequences for her action is known to exist. She is still active in the NCT fandom and the video footage is still readily available on her account.[4]

Commentary

Aaah that bitch. I remember NCT had an event (I forgot the city) and she was following the boys all around. I think it was during winter. She literally wants her Y/N moment and all she’s doing is being creepy. I hope they press charges on her.

@cryingnoise_ August 20, 2023  https://x.com/cryingnoise_/status/1693453241713922183

I'm not a legal expert but have some knowledge. I doubt she'll face criminal charges in the US since stalking is notoriously hard to prove, but instead they'll probably target her in civil court--ie, SM suing her for inflicting mental distress via invasion of privacy or something of the like, which can be helpful in a couple ways that will result in her being kept away from them. (Restraining orders are possible but hard bc they aren't always transferable from state to state, but there are other legal ways to do this.)

Whoever leaked the card to her is also probably getting fired and perhaps dealing with a criminal complaint, depending on SK's laws and if the person is SK or US-based. If they're US-based, the company can sue them as well, and probably will.

Tl;dr She's not going to jail, but she is probably screwed. I would not want to face SM with a lawyer from college.

lilysjasmine92, 2023 https://www.reddit.com/r/NCT/comments/15yi0j4/question_about_the_stalker_situation/

To me, it doesn't matter if this girl is dangerous or not. If you've ever been stalked or had your home/room broken into, you know how they must feel. It feels violating, it feels like your boundaries have been crossed, and its an awful, unsafe feeling. I don't agree with sasaeng behavior in general, but I think entering someone's hotel room is way over the line. She deserves whatever action SM takes against her.

ffkeixi, 2023 Comment on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFo9stVWGCU

See Also

"Summary of NCT Sasaeng Judy" - Google doc by Twitter user @junhuilvrr containing information about Judy's history with NCT [24]

"The NCT American sasaeng Judy Hoang (a lil deep dive)" - video essay by Youtuber Duck posted on September 18, 2023.

References

  1. ^ Judy's dox was released on the internet as a result of this incident, but further personal information about her should not be included on this page.
  2. ^ One Twitter user expressed anger at Judy's actions in a Tweet dated to February of 2023: j on X: "i swear to god every time i have to see judy's stalking ass stalking nct once again i wanna fucking scream and kick somebody, leave them the fuck alone!!! 🤬 god i hate her so much and the fact that she has the same name as me infuriates me even more, disgusting" / X https://x.com/jumalaska/status/1630208551049371648
  3. ^ https://x.com/sunkissedviews/status/1693308172121821658
  4. ^ a b https://x.com/sunkissedviews/status/1693318340519854535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1693318340519854535%7Ctwgr%5E1be90c1eb4b2b2ab3ddfa236b1efb8138e180c14%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koreaboo.com%2Fnews%2Ffan-break-nct-jaehyun-hotel-room-nctzens-angered%2F
  5. ^ a b c d https://www.soompi.com/article/1608543wpp/sm-entertainment-announces-strong-legal-action-against-sasaeng-of-ncts-jaehyun
  6. ^ a b https://www.koreaboo.com/news/fan-break-nct-jaehyun-hotel-room-nctzens-angered/
  7. ^ a b https://x.com/caro_xo_/status/1693386508516909132?s=46&t=cAqOO5r9futBNO3hFGmC-g
  8. ^ https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/23/k-pop-group-nct-s-agency-to-take-legal-action-after-fan-breaks-into-member-hotel-room-in-us
  9. ^ a b c d https://www.ibtimes.com/watch-american-nct-sasaeng-enters-jaehyuns-hotel-room-now-fans-want-her-reported-3709256
  10. ^ https://x.com/hopiesland/status/1694863569593020471
  11. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/15zaass/deleted_by_user/
  12. ^ a b https://www.instiz.net/name_enter/88991101?page=1&category=2&srt=3&k=&srd=2 In Korean
  13. ^ a b c d https://docs.google.com/document/d/10liQKyZjXzzvo0dN8ymufts3rj2NSM6uimjQG8csAFA/edit?tab=t.0
  14. ^ https://www.asianjunkie.com/2023/08/21/sme-requests-an-investigation-of-plans-to-take-legal-action-against-sasaeng-who-posted-vids-inside-of-ncts-jaehyuns-room/
  15. ^ https://x.com/dayflyaway/status/1123606178225905665?s=46&t=cAqOO5r9futBNO3hFGmC-g
  16. ^ a b https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFo9stVWGCU
  17. ^ https://x.com/sunkissedviews/status/1693452670021837283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1693455251330752900%7Ctwgr%5E1be90c1eb4b2b2ab3ddfa236b1efb8138e180c14%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koreaboo.com%2Fnews%2Ffan-break-nct-jaehyun-hotel-room-nctzens-angered%2F
  18. ^ https://x.com/sunkissedviews/status/1693455251330752900
  19. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/NCT/comments/15yi0j4/question_about_the_stalker_situation/
  20. ^ https://x.com/naevisaeonic/status/1693753985532887434
  21. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/NCT/comments/15xxya2/comment/jx8xgv0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
  22. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/15zl6a8/thoughts_on_the_nctzen_sasaeng_situation/
  23. ^ https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-08-22/entertainment/kpop/Action-to-be-taken-against-fan-who-entered-boy-band-members-US-accommodation/1852574
  24. ^ https://x.com/junhuilvrr/status/1630804519171784704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1630804519171784704%7Ctwgr%5E415b9ed6c68f8a7562b887e1a157f5d170547c65%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.asianjunkie.com%2F2023%2F08%2F21%2Fsme-requests-an-investigation-of-plans-to-take-legal-action-against-sasaeng-who-posted-vids-inside-of-ncts-jaehyuns-room%2F
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