BigBang (band)
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Kpop group | |
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Group name(s) | BIGBANG, BigBang, 빅뱅 |
Members | G-Dragon, Taeyang, and Daesung. Past members - Seungri and T.O.P |
Fandom name(s) | V.I.P, VIP |
Fandom symbol(s) |
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Date(s) | 2006-present |
Company | YG Entertainment |
Related articles on Fanlore. | |
BIGBANG (빅뱅) is a South Korean hip-hop boyband under YG Entertainment. The group consists of three members: G-Dragon, Taeyang, and Daesung. Originally a five-piece band, Seungri retired from the entertainment industry in March 2019 after his scandal and T.O.P left the band in May 2023.
They have released albums in both Korean and Japanese.
Fandom
The official name for BIGBANG fans is V.I.P often also stylized as VIP. The name comes from the song "V.I.P.", from BIGBANG's second single album, BIGBANG is V.I.P. There isn’t an official color, but V.I.Ps use either their infamous yellow crown lightsticks called Bangbong which was designed by G-Dragon himself because he wanted his fans in the crowd to stand out like true VIPs or black and white handkerchiefs (in lieu of balloons).
Fan stance towards group
V.I.Ps love to boast about how chill they are towards the band.
For example, Taeyang got married to actress Min Hyo-rin on February 3, 2018.[1] The couple gave birth to their first child in 2021. While EXO's Chen or Super Junior's Sungmin received a lot of hate for revealing their marriages V.I.Ps were quite happy for the couple and the overall reaction was very positive.[2] YG Entertainment's response to the first dating rumors 5 years prior to the marriage was also very chill which likely influenced the fandom as well. YG stated: "Taeyang cannot be contacted as of now. But if the dating news is true, then we will congratulate him." The CEO commented that he was very happy that Taeyang finally got a girlfriend. To this day fans think it's hilarious and frankly legendary.[3][4]
The difference between the reaction of the fans probably also stems from the fact that Big Bang had a lot of scandals and a “bad boy” image. They talked about relationships, dating and other typically taboo idol topics regularly, portraying themselves as sexually active and really never fed heavily into the "I'm your pretend boyfriend" concept. Unlike many other K-pop groups, they didn't act innocently and didn't try to sell the "boyfriend image" [5]. While the other members seemed to have dated a lot there was a bit of a joke about how Taeyang was always single and didn't have any experience (his first kiss being on the set of a music video), which meant that a lot of people were especially happy for him. By the time of the marriage Big Bang was an established group. On top of that, Taeyang didn’t have the same overly-possessive fans that G-Dragon had and Min Hyorin was a well-liked Korean actress. Since VIPs knew about Taeyang’s relationship as he was publicly dating Min Hyorin for 5 years before they got married, the situation is entirely different of those other "scandals". As a result some V.I.Ps love to claim that they don't have a skewed relationship with their band and are the most loyal fandom in the K-pop community.
However, after the scandal of Seungri there were and are a lot of fights within the fandom making them not as "chill" as they used to be (even though they were never as chill towards other fandoms). [6] Most V.I.Ps seem to agree that Seungri is not someone who is supportable anymore after the crimes he commited and supported and would love to erase him from the bands history. They were very hurt by the whole situation as they looked up to Seungri before that. He ruined the image of the band. A minority still loves him though which frustrates the rest of the fandom a lot. This causes fanwars between the OT4 and OT5 fans.[7] Some fans go even as far as claiming that OT5 fans ruin the fandom as ""fans" who are willing to overlook the amount of abuse this man allowed to happen are just sick".[8] OT4s think that the problem is probably that most of the charges Seungri has been accused of were dropped which vindicates the Seungri stans. They can live in their denial and delusion some even going as far as claiming that Seungri was a victim either of circumstances or of being framed and that it is a witch hunt. Others claim that it comes from a "I can save him" mentality. Maybe it also stems from the fact that the band has had a lot of scandals before that. All of the non-OT5 fans agree though that it is quite sad to see that he still has supporters, especially since Seungri retired from the entertainment industry and there literally is nothing to save or support. As a result a lot of fans also started to avoid V.I.P spaces and especially V.I.P twitter. The band seems to lose a lot of fans because of this while also being not attractive to newer fans as the fanbase has become somewhat inhospitable. Some also claim that the OT5 fans ruin fandom projects. [9]
Some of the more casual fans are also speculating whether you can still support the rest of the band with their respective scandals as all of the scandals of the band except for Taeyang's are quite heavy, but fans tend to be very forgiving when it comes to the rest of the members.
they are noted as inspirations to numerous idols. Despite that, fans allege that YG Entertainment has not done anything to promote BIGBANG nor protect their image.
Most fans are waiting for a comeback as the band promised them one. Some fans though claim that this promise was fulfilled by releasing "Still Life" in 2022.
Shipping
BIGBANG has actually been known to be a group that dislikes hardcore shipping, especially T.O.P, Taeyang and G-Dragon. While Taeyang tweeted about "Double dragon" and "GDYB", he meant it in a brotherly way as they mean "units" or "collaborations". Apparently, they were disgusted when they found out that the couple names fans were calling them were meant in a sexual way. Despite that T.O.P/G-Dragon has always been a popular ship among fans[10] and still is to this day followed by Taeyang/G-Dragon and most fanfiction is slash. He also got shipped a lot with Seungri which kind of died down after Seungri's scandal. There is also a lot of het fic pairing the guys with members of 2NE1 or other popular idols. G-Dragon used to get shipped with Dara of 2NE1 a lot, it was his most famous ship out of all of them including his slash pairings, especially because there were a lot of moments which could suggest a relationship according to fans[11][12] (tagged with "daragon" on Asianfanfics and consistently being voted as famous often being the only het pairing[13]), but his ships with CL and IU were also quite famous. G-Dragon seems to be the most "shippable". T.O.P got mostly shipped with Bom of 2NE1 as both of them were famous for their "8D personalities", the rest of the members also had various ships with 2NE1.
There were also some quite random ships as the band was always quite carefree in their interactions with other groups, for example Seungri with EXO's Sehun after he sat on his lap at their 2015 MAMA performance[14] (even though that quickly died down after Seungri's scandal).
Legacy
In their prime they were known as Kings of K-pop [15] (G-Dragon himself was also known as King of K-pop on his own [16]) and to this day they are regarded as legendary. BIGBANG influenced the K-pop landscape a lot by setting trends and making a lot of things very popular setting standards for years to come. Fans also love to claim that everything they did and made popular was them being the first to do it [17] even though most of the time they weren't, but you can't argue that they definitely set a lot of trends and made a lot of things cool. They fought the previously set standards by being outspoken and shocking to the general public.
- Writing and producing their own music [18] - Seo Taiji and the Boys, H.O.T and BoA did it before them. However, when you think of an idol group who has been maintaining tight control of their music since the beginning, BIGBANG definitely would come to mind. They were rather famous for it. G-Dragon is widely known to be the main songwriter and producer of the group, penning all of the group's major hits. The Korea Times has called him a "genius singer-songwriter". In 2008, G-Dragon became the youngest person to be listed on The 10 Greatest Korean Composers at the age of 20. As of July 2022, the Korea Music Copyright Association has 175 songs listed under his name.
- Having a rapline - H.O.T debuted in 1996 and also had a rapline. However, BIGBANG was widely regarded as having the best rapline at that time (the other contender being Block B). The rapper duo was highly regarded for their rap skills and contributions to the group's music having ascended from the term "idol rapper". Before them a rapper in a group was just someone who can't sing which is the reason why idol rappers weren't considered true rappers.
- Having an underground rapper turned idol - Miryo from Brown Eyed Girls used to be an underground rapper and debuted before BIGBANG in March 2006 making T.O.P (underground name T.E.M.P.O) at most a close second.
- Going on a world tour - JYJ (former TVXQ members) completed their world tour "2011 JYJ World Tour" in 2011.[19] BIGBANG's world tour "Alive Galaxy Tour" (referred to as Alive Tour) was held from 2012 until 2013 which doesn't make them the first to do it, but they definitely showed everyone how successful a world tour can be.
- Dyeing their hair in bright colors - Seo Taiji and the Boys in 1995 [20] and Moon Heejun of H.O.T [21] dyed their hair as well back in the days. Moon Heejun stated that idols can change their hair color into all of the colors they want because of his fight for more openess towards that topic as he was once banned from TV for one year due to his dyed hair. S.E.S couldn't promote their third comeback on music broadcasts because they dyed their hair blonde, but the public loved the new concept calling them trendsetters. [22] However, it was G-Dragon who made it really cool. He started massively dyeing his hair in a variety of bright colors culture. He was known as the Iguana Idol. Previously, it was not that popular. Of course, there were cases where the idols dyed their hair but mostly it was just brightening. He did a lot of unusual colors to the point where people said that there is no color he hasn't tried. Their unique stage fashion and hairstyles have always been highlighted. Fuse TV noted that "their outfits are almost as entertaining as their performances."
- Winning a western award - In 2011 BIGBANG became the first K-pop group to set foot on a western award stage for the 2011 "MTV European Music Awards". The group won "Best Worldwide Act", making them the first K-pop group to win an MTV award outside of Asia. [23]
- Being formed by a survival show - There was Akdong Club who were formed by a reality survival show that aired in 2002. [24] However, as Akdong Club is mostly forgotten nowadays, BIGBANG are said to be the first K-pop group formed through a survival program “BIGBANG The Beginning” and it was also BIGBANG that made the idea popular.
- Having solo careers without disbanding the group - Shinhwa were the first using the "separate yet together" strategy. In the past, solo activities outside of group promotions were rejected. However, in 2003, Shinhwa’s Lee Minwoo was the first to release his solo album. [25] BIGBANG made this very popular as all of them had very successful solo careers and even tours proving to everyone that you don't have to leave or disband just to be able to have a stable solo career. They also started very early on in the career of the band with their solo promotions which was also unusual at the time.
- Collaborating with western artists, their first collaboration being G-Dragon with Flo Rida in 2009. However, in 2004 Snoop Dogg and Warren G had already collaborated with Jinusean on their track "2 All My People". While they weren't the first, they were some of the first few idols to be present in the west having more collaborations in the following years and making it a popular thing to do.
- Promoting mini albums: "Always" (2007) was the first release in Korean's music industry to be promoted as a "mini-album". After BIGBANG, many K-pop groups started to release mini album (EP) series.
- Having personalized lightsticks: They were indeed the first group to do and have personalized lightsticks. Lightsticks at concerts have always existed, but personalized lightsticks that represent a group did indeed begin with BIGBANG. G-Dragon was also the first idol to design the lightstick himself.
- G-Dragon is the first and only solo artist to receive the Mnet Asian Music Award for Artist of the Year in 2013.
- Havin an edgy (hip hop mixed with "cool/bad boy") concept - Artists like Seo Taiji, and, later, H.O.T were at the forefront of Korea's "rap dance" scene in the mid-to-late '90s. [26] By the second generation of K-pop, which roughly begins in 2003, the days of "rap dance" had fizzled out in favor of a distinct K-pop sound with a boyfriend concept. BIGBANG made hip hop popular again. They elaborated on the hip hop of early K-pop while putting their own style into it and promoting it with their amazing stage presence. They are seen as the pioneers of the edgy concept. Hip hop’s presence in the genre remains in the form of creating a designated rapper in each idol group.
- Airport fashion - today, it is a moving force of fashion trends in South Korea as it's one of the few times where we can usually see idols in their own "personal" clothes and styling themselves (though they do sometimes do have stylists that also help with this). The origin of this trend is none other than G-Dragon alongside Jessica Jung of Girls' Generation. [27] He was choosing fashion statement pieces which caught the eye of the paparazzi and reporters at the airport. His fashion style became more and more recognized among netizens which made people really excited about his airport pictures. Wearing special outfits and accessories to the airport was a concept first created by G-Dragon, and later adopted by most Kpop idols and Korean artists generally.
- G-Dragon was the first Korean Idol to be invited to Paris Fashion Week's front rows as he was and still is one of Asia's biggest fashion moguls, according to Vogue. [28]
- Breaking gender roles: From being the first male idol to endorse red lipstick, to casually painting his nails, posing in photoshoot as gender neutral or even wearing female clothing items like skirts, not only to events and performances but even in his daily appearances.
- International collaborations with big foreign brands: Chanel, Givenchy, Nike and many more consider G-Dragon as a global ambassador. Late Karl Lagerfeld considered him as a muse at a time where collaborations with Asian celebrities weren't common. [29]
G-Dragon was like Beyoncé back in the day. He was a public icon. His mere presence would send media and fans into a craze. He was appealing to a huge variety of poeple, and on top of his identity as a musician he was also seen as a huge fashion icon and a well-known TV/public personality.
Their live performances were also seen as legendary as they were not following the standard K-pop formula by lacking an emphasis on choreo and having the greater emphasis on stage presence and live mics making them exciting to watch for fans. Therefore, they received a lot of respect and people started calling them "real artists" instead of idols.
BIGBANG is responsible for more than half of all albums sold by the YG Entertainment in South Korea from 2014 to 2017, before their hiatus due to military enlistment. They were the first Korean mainstream hip hop idols, credited for helping popularize the genre throughout Asia as one of the driving forces behind the Hallyu Wave. They set several records and received worldwide recognition while influencing a lot of younger idols to become idols.
The parallels between BTS and BIGBANG are quite funny.
Relationship with other fandoms
However, the fandom was especially in their early days decidedly not chill towards other fandoms, other fandoms called it a "superiority complex" ("Cassiopeia and VIPs were the scary ones at the time"). According to other fandoms: V.I.Ps used to bring everyone down and put the band on this huge pedastal claiming that BIGBANG are the only "real artists" having achieved something "above K-pop" not being idols anymore but real artists while other K-pop bands were exactly that - K-pop idols. They were the best in everything and trendsetters. V.I.Ps used to bully a lot of other fandoms who somehow came in contact with them. They would claim that BigBang were the originators of everything, they would brag about how BIGBANG was the biggest artist and were the most talented and that they would stay as "Kings" on top forever. Apparently, you can still see some of them in Youtube comment sections "I can't get into new groups because BIGBANG set the bar to high"; "they weren't focused on dances they have that YG swag" and "no other artist can hype up the crowd like them". This era of the fandom is often compared to Armys, as both fandoms used to act and sometimes act quite similar claiming that their group is the originator and that every other group is trying to copy them and be like them. [30][31] Nowadays, the fandom seems to be more chill though, especially since group was inactive for quite a while, while other fandoms seem to think of the fandom as more chill these days.
Fanwars
V.I.Ps got and sometimes still get into a lot of fanwars.
V.I.Ps used to love being part of the "YG family" with "papa YG" on top even though they also used to have a lot of fights with other fandoms of YG groups. They really bought into the marketing strategy of YG in the early 2010s. At that time, to K-pop fans it seemed like YG Entertainment wa the best company out of the Big 3 or even all of the K-pop companies. The company was praised for giving idols the chance to produce their own music making the quality really high and for not overworking the idols (which is something fans nowadays like to criticize calling it "keeping the idols in the dungeon" without comebacks). A lot of V.I.Ps also thought that G-Dragon would take over the CEO spot of YG Entertainment one day or at least become someone like Teddy to the company as BIGBANG was the band that helped building the company. G-Dragon was a vital part of YG's image and built their brand. Nowadays, the company is one of the most hated companies being called shady and "papa YG" is arguably even more hated than Seungri. Fans of YG groups also seem to either despise other groups in YG or stan all of the groups of YG while having a conflicted relationship with the company itself (people like the image of their groups and the sound as it remains consistent throughout all of their groups, but hate the man behind the company and the main executives for the current state of the company as they were rather closely related to the Burning Sun Scandal and are letting all of their legendary artists leave) This used to lead to a lot of tensions between the fandoms. Blinks (fans of Blackpink) and V.I.Ps build up a lot of tension and passive-aggressiveness which culminated into Blinks accusing G-Dragon of grooming Jennie when the dating rumors of the two broke out.[32] Similar to this, V.I.Ps also sometimes clashed with the fans of 2NE1 called Blackjacks. For example Daralings (fans of Dara) and some V.I.Ps got into a mini fanwar after a video with a snippet of another episode where she's gonna talk about the customized shoes he gave her and why he gave her a customized one was released. Some VIPs claimed that, Dara painted the shoes on her own and she was not part of his 88 F&F list. They called her names. The two fandoms kept on talking about it because there were several days before the episode from the snippet, where she actually talked about the shoes was released. For four days, they were just on a fanwar. It was constantly talked about and a VIP used Ben Baller's (he is their mutual friend) reply to a tweet asking Dara where she got the shoes, he replied, "She found it in the ramen" to debunk the claims that Dara was on the F&F list. Ben Baller had to comment in the issue because it was already getting petty.[33]
In 2015 V.I.Ps got into fanwars with fans of two of SM Entertainment's groups.[34] ELFs (fans of Super Junior) and V.I.Ps remained mostly civil for the longest time even thought the groups were compared a lot until things started to get a little crazy when 2015 MAMA rolled around. Both groups were up for "Album of the Year" and "Best Male Group" when netizens once again sparked the debate of who was the better group. Things got heated and it wasn’t until after the award show that things died down. It’s funny because the fandoms seem to have mutual respect nowadays. EXO-Ls (fans of EXO) and V.I.Ps started off as a pretty friendly rivalry, but that took a turn when EXO's "Love Me Right" and BIGBANG's "Loser" were put up against each other on M! Countdown and on Inkigayo. Accusations started to fly that Mnet was favoring one group over the other and, if they weren’t, that fans must be cheating which Mnet tried to prevent, but failed to do so. The fight continued until one EXO fan posted a video of herself burning a picture of BIGBANG's Taeyang with EXO's "Mama" playing in the background. Another EXO-L, who appeared to be Filipino, made threats to bomb a Big Bang concert that will be taking place soon in the Philippines.[35] Other EXO-Ls were shocked at the post and expressed their outrage over their actions.[36] One year later EXO-Ls accused V.I.Ps again of rigging the votes on Gaon Charts which seemed to be true.[37] Interestingly they didn't clash a lot with SONEs (fans of Girls' Generation) [38] and were decently friendly with Shawols (fans of SHINee).
There were also a lot of fanwars between V.I.Ps and Army which is funny because BTS was inspired and heavily influenced by BIGBANG which was pretty easy to see in their early days. Both fandoms got compared a lot as well as Armys tended to act a lot like V.I.Ps in their early years (other fandoms claimed that they are mirror images of one another both having a superiority complex). [39] [40][41] V.I.Ps blamed BTS for copying the setup and concept from T.O.P's "no signal" performance for their "Save Me" and "Blood, Sweat & Tears" performances at "The 6th GAON Chart Music Awards". One of BIGBANG's tour producers as well as siblings of the members supported the fandom online which added fuel to the fire.[42] This wasn't the first time that they got accused of copying BIGBANG by V.I.Ps. [43] Gaon later apologized.[44] The fandoms also got into a fight after discovering BIGBANG tags in BTS's "Blood, Sweat & Tears" music video. [45] Another example of a fanwar between Armys and V.I.Ps is the release of the Disney movie "Turning Red". Armys got upset that the director said that aspects of the movie were inspired by BIGBANG and 2PM [chttps://thesun.my/style-life/unexpected-k-pop-influence-in-pixar-s-turning-red-animated-film-JN8942874] because the looks and mannerisms of the character Taeyoung seemed to be inspired by Jimin. V.I.Ps and Hottests in return got upset because BIGBANG and 2PM were being insulted. Later the director confirmed that Taeyoung was indeed inspired by Jimin which ended the fanwars. [46]
Controversies
Many fans of K-Pop have been saying how the entire group of BIGBANG is problematic, minus Taeyang.[47] Taeyang is well known as the only member in BIGBANG who has never had a negative scandal. In fact, his biggest scandal is dropping the news of his wedding with Min Hyo-Rin without any notice and a cultural appropriation scandal for which he immediately apologized (and which is often forgotten by fans).[48]
Seungri: Burning Sun Scandal and others
The Burning Sun scandal [49] [50] was a 2019 entertainment and sex scandal in Seoul, South Korea, which involved several celebrities, including Korean idols of popular K-pop groups, and police officials. The allegations of sex crimes added to the country's "epidemic" of what is called "molka", a Korean word for the online distribution of nonconsensual sex videos taken of women, and the scandal became fodder for political parties, who argued over how to handle it.
The Burning Sun nightclub, (클럽 버닝썬, Club Burning Sun), opened at the Le Méridien Seoul hotel in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, on February 23, 2018, and closed during the investigation of the scandal on February 17, 2019. The nightclub was often called "Seungri's Club", due to its affiliation with him. The Burning Sun advertised itself as "the most elegant and finest club in South Korea". At that time, Seungri's Club was the place to be for Koreans. Everyone had heard of Seungri's Gatsby party in 2015 (this specific event has now been confirmed to have been the event where Seungri allegedly solicited prostitutes for his Japanese investors. G-Dragon’s take on Seungri’s behaviour at the event is now chilling to read considering what was really happening) [51] and everyone in South Korea wanted to attend one of these insane lavish parties as at the time it sounded like a glamourous place where you meet celebrities. Another example of this lifestyle of Seungri is his birthday on December 9, 2017, where Seungri rented an entire resort on the island of Palawan for a total of $444,083 USD. He invited approximately 150 guests and held the party for two days (two months after his successful party, the club opened with people from the party listed as president and investors. Police believe Seungri solicited prostitutes for the party). [52] Throughout the years, Seungri had developed a second career in business, and the nightclub business was not his first business venture, having been preceded by several others: a Japanese ramen restaurant chain, cosmetics, a Belgian waffle cafe, and a record company co-founded with his agency YG Entertainment. Fans believed that he was a "smart business man" some even going as far as saying that he could take over YG. Seungri’s taste for the high life earned him the nickname "The Great Gatsby of South Korea" or "Seungsby" and he even played into the nickname with his album titled "The Great Seungri".
In the club, Seungri served as one of the DJs, along with other local and visiting guest artists like R3hab, and the co-founder of Yuri Holdings, a shareholder of Burning Sun Entertainment that operated the club which owned as much as 20 percent in shares. The club had the reputation to be a high end club with the appeal being Seungri's Gatsby image. When people heard questionable stories coming out of the club first they would question if the story tellers were even sober enough to remember the events correctly. And if the answer was "yes" the response was that's just what happens at the Burning Sun, that there is nothing else expect to happen at a place like this and that it doesn't have a wholesome reputation. Chaos was to be expected.
The first public awareness of the Burning Sun scandal was on January 28, 2019, when MBC Newsdesk reported on an alleged assault of a 29-year-old clubgoer, Kim Sang-kyo, at the Burning Sun nightclub. Kim said he was attempting to help a woman who was being sexually harassed, but staff had assaulted him. When the Yeoksam police arrived, he was arrested as the assailant and booked on seven charges, including criminal battery, an indecent act, defamation and the obstruction of the performance of official duties. He said the police assaulted him after he was placed under arrest. The incident occurred on November 24, 2018, but came to media attention in January 2019, after Kim posted a blue house petition detailing his assault by Burning Sun staffers and mistreatment by police which received more than 200,000 signatures in just one day. The club responded by saying that he was a sexual assaulter and that they were throwing him out which netizens found strange at the time. The general public was on Kim's side. During the early stages, the scandal evolved around Kim's complaint against the Burning Sun nightclub, including any possible crimes that may have occurred there, and the identities of responsible parties, but soon the club's scandal was heightened in the media. Especially since women now felt comfortable enough to come forward with their cases as well (before there were cases where women were slut shamed for speaking out about it). [53] By January 31, 2019, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) had taken charge of the investigation, which included allegations of local Gangnam police corruption and collusion with the club's owners, and had assigned a team to look into the club's allegations of sexual violence, drug use, Kim's arrest and any connection with the local police station. Seungri's involvement and his relationship to the nightclub immediately became a hot media issue. Yang Hyun-suk the chief of his agency, YG Entertainment, released a statement on January 31, that Seungri had been at the club on November 28, but left before Kim's incident occurred. He also said Seungri's recent resignation as a senior director of the club was due to his upcoming military enlistment.
On February 26, 2019, the first portions of the KakaoTalk was released that would become crucial in the investigation, saying their origin was an anonymous source. A lawyer had obtained the messages from a whistleblower or "anonymous source", possibly a technician at a phone repair shop, where singer and entertainer Jung Joonyoung had dropped his phone off for repairs. The recordings dated back to 2015, and seemed to implicate Seungri with allegations that he had directed Burning Sun staff to arrange prostitutes for foreign investors who were coming to Seoul, at another Gangnam nightclub. The scandal revolves around a core chat that involved eight members: Seungri, Jung Joon Young, Choi Jonghoon (of F.T. Island), Yoo In Suk (former CEO of Yuri Holdings), Burning Sun employee named Mr. Kim, a relative of a girl group member (Yuri of Girls' Generation), a former YG Entertainment employee and a friend of Jung. [54] On February 27, Seungri was questioned by the SMPA, a lengthy interview that lasted overnight and included a drug test. Seungri denied allegations of attempts to buy sex for potential foreign investors. Prostitution is illegal in South Korea. Fans were shocked and couldn't believe his involvement being true at first. Hashtags like #SeungriDeservesBetter started to trend.
However, on March 10, Seungri was booked on sex bribery charges. The following day, he resigned from entertainment on his Instagram account, stating that he had caused a "societal disturbance" and said he would cooperate with the investigation [55] Fans were devastated and disgusted.
Meanwhile, on March 14, two more singers, Yong Jun-hyung of the boy band Highlight and Choi Jong-hoon of the band F.T. Island, announced their retirement from their respective music groups following speculation that they were participants in Jung's chatrooms. Yong admitted to viewing one of Jung's sex tapes that was recorded without the woman's permission and participating in "inappropriate conversations" about it, saying, "All these behaviours were extremely unethical, and I was stupid". Yong was questioned by police as a witness. Choi had been a member of one of the chatrooms that was of immediate interest in media reports and the investigation. In one conversation, Choi allegedly detailed his own drunk driving incident from 2016, that was allegedly kept out of media coverage due to help from a police official with the surname Yoon. Choi was questioned by police on March 16 under allegations of secretly filming and sharing videos.
On March 15, another Korean idol, Lee Jong-hyun of rock band CNBLUE, admitted to viewing Jung's sex videos in a group chatroom and making disparaging remarks about women, talking about them as sexual objects.
Jung Joon-young was arrested on March 21 for charges under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes. He was charged with crimes against at least ten victims for illegally filming and distributing sex tapes. Jung admitted to the charges and apologized at the hearing for his arrest at the Seoul Central District Court, and was later taken to the SMPA's Jongno Police Station.
The club essentially ran another separate business model at the same time: the club was free to go for girls, especially "pretty ones". Club employees would then scout them for their VIP costumers, even going as far as making a "menu" for them. After the VIP had decided they would drug the girls and the VIP could take them to a VIP room or a hotel room next to the club to rape them. Illegal hidden camera videos were filmed and shared of the girls they had sex with, and chat logs where the celebrities described their sex adventures or the trading of girls were released. The local police was paid off and would work with the employees to sweep it under the rug which is why females were very discouraged to take actions against the club.
Aftermath
Seungri was an active participant in Jung Joon Young’s chat rooms, where illegal sex videos were shared and where the participants would “rate” the women they had sex with. He was only investigated for his participation in the chat room and reportedly did not share more than one photo he found online. Seungri was initially sentenced to three years for nine other charges, including prostitution, prostitution mediation, embezzlement, violating food safety laws, habitual gambling, and violating the foreign exchange law. He was released on February 9 after 18 months, much to the surprise of netizens.
Jung Joon Young was initially sentenced to six years in prison for gang sexual assault and for taking and sharing illegally taken sex videos. However, his sentence was reduced to five years after he submitted documents expressing his regret. His release date is currently in late 2025.
Former member of F.T. Island Choi Jonghoon was initially sentenced to five years in prison after he was charged for participating in two different gang rapes, though his sentence was reduced to two years and six months after being able to come to a settlement with his victims.
Former member of Highlight, Yong Junhyung was affiliated with the scandal after he admitted to viewing an illegal video that Jung Joon Young shared with him. Junhyung admitted to speaking “inappropriately” but denied sending any illegal content himself. He did not face charges. He is currently dating HyunA which enraged her fans as it tainted her image.
Former CNBLUE member Lee Jonghyun participated in talking about the women he and Jung Joon Young slept with, even asking the other women. After initially denying his involvement, Jonghyun admitted to viewing the illegally filmed videos. He did not face charges.
Roy Kim was accused of sharing and viewing illegal sex cams, but was found not to be involved in the group chats that did. After his name was cleared, Roy Kim returned to music in 2020 before he enlisted in the Marines for his mandatory military service. In October 2022, he released his latest album ,and.
Eddy Kim was booked for “circulating obscene material” in relation to Jung Joon Young’s group chat before his indictment was suspended by the prosecution. It was revealed that he shared a single photo from the internet in a different group chat.
Also in late September, rapper Zico, who had mentioned Jung's "golden phone" on a television program in 2016, and was rumored to have seen the illegal videos, released lyrics in a song on his new album referring to it, "I've never seen a video like that, I swear to God."
This came after women protesting and trying to take on spycams in South Korea in August 2018. In August they were carrying signs declaring “My life is not your porn”, were gathering to protest molka – the use of hidden cameras to take images and videos, usually of a sexual nature, for distribution online – and to demand better policing and harsher penalties for those found guilty. [56] [57] Women were enraged about the Burning Sun scandal stating that the recent nightclub scandal exposed a culture that exploits women. The scandal added to ongoing discussions of women's issues in South Korea — gender inequality, the budding Me Too movement in South Korea, feminism, "molka", prostitution, and the K-pop industry's attitude towards women. Activists criticized a general dismissive attitude towards the crimes, citing a "deeply rooted gender inequality and misogyny in the country". Talks included the K-pop industry, which critics had blamed for sexualizing women. Gangnam's nightclubs, usually "a pilgrimage site for K-pop fans", immediately saw a tapering of Chinese tourists, followed by a general decline of customers to nightclubs and lounge bars.
A November 2019 retrospective article, written by Matthew Campbell and Sohee Kim for Bloomberg Businessweek, pointed out that the K-pop industry, in general, had ignored the scandal, with "no organized demands for better behavior from male stars or serious discussions about revamping how idols are trained." They quoted a former SM Entertainment executive, Jeong Chang-hwan, on its implicit impact, "It's a huge lesson in what not to do," he says. "The best teacher for young idols is to see fellow idols get into a scandal and disappear from the industry."
These issues are deeper than kpop, they penetrate all of corporate culture here. Seungri and his buddies were a scapegoat for the bigger culprits, and that’s usually how it goes.
changed how we view idols
It became a lot more taboo for idols to be seen at a club. Prior to BS idols and celebrities used to openly talk about going to the club and be photographed there.
Jay Parks AOMG launch party in 2013 at club A for example, I feel like fans in general are less keen in supporting male idols than before, and gravitate more towards female idols. Of course,e many boy groups do well and selling better as a whole than before, but they just don’t seem popular with casual fans or the general public like some used to be. TBH it changed less than I would want to. Some commenters are mentioning the distrust towards the male idols but even that distrust isn't very strong, male idols are still doing just fine, they have millions of fans and are all over TV. Their charting is poor now (with only a couple of exceptions) but I don't know if it's caused by this, boy groups have been losing the popularity with the general public even before Burning Sun.
Like others have said it didn’t hurt Bigbang at all really. Still Life went #1 for weeks in Korea, was also number 1 in a lot of other countries, was top 10 on the billboard 200, won best vocal performance at MAMA, 9 music show wins and they did all that without promotion. but broke up because of it
BigBang was already on their way out. The Burning Sun scandal only sped up the process, but the signs were there even before that. T.O.P. was clearly ready to leave the idol life behind.
And also I don't think it affected BigBang (except for Seungri) members that much. Just a reminder they dropped a song last year with no promotion and it charted at #1 in Korea for weeks. People still love their songs and idols still hold a lot of respect for them. Quite literally BTS and Blackpink members still collaborate and associate themselves with GD and Taeyang.
Nobody is replacing YGE either. HYBE was added and it became "Big 4" in the Korean media, but redditors are way too dramatic when it comes to YGE. Their earnings are totally fine, so are their results. Just last week they occupied all top 3 spots on Melon. Even their "smaller" acts like Somi and Treasure are very successful.
Signs in hindsight
Ongoing Sex Scandals beforehand in 2012, Anna Kubo
Seungri, All the lies and all the hints from Big Bang we should have known members saying that they don't like Seungri's friends; where do you see yourself in 5 years [58] "They knew Seungri was up to something .. how unfortunate. He caused so much damage for them. I hope everyone can support BIGBANG now as 4 and show them a lot of love for their comeback ! They deserve it without Seungri ruining it for all of them." - Fans were amazed however how accurate their precitions were
mini scandals to come back? using G-Dragons name
Daesung
Vehicular Manslaughter
Daesung was involved in a car accident on Yanghwa Bridge on May 31, 2011 around 1:30AM. He hit a motorcyclist that was lying on the street from an earlier accident and later crashed into a taxi in front of him which had stopped to try and help the motorcyclist who was unresponsive. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead shortly after the accident. YG Entertainment announced Daesung would be on hiatus and reflect on himself and his actions during the investigation. Fans were shocked, but quick to condemn him after details were revealed. Daesung was speeding at 70-80 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. Daesung was labeled as a murderer. YG's compensations of offering to provide the family with funeral expenses and death compensation was seen as disrespectful manner and poor compensation.[59] That incident was a nation wide news back then and because of that the investigation was heavily dissected by the media.
On August 29, 2011 the Seoul Prosecutor’s office dismissed charges against him. The prosecutor’s office said no sufficient evidence was found to prove the victim was alive at the time of Daesung’s contact with him, and it’s hard to completely rule out the possibility of the motorcyclist being killed from his earlier crash into the streetlamp. The motorcyclist was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.186% prior to hitting the streetlamp which resulted in severe damages to his face, neck, and back. However, there have been many speculations as to whether Daesung caused the victim’s death as he ran over the motorcyclist who was lying on the street just three minutes after the initial crash. All nine members of the committee agreed to exempt Daesung from indictment as it was unclear whether the drunk driver was already dead before Daesung was involved and in that case according to the law the judge has no choice but to acquit (there have been many judicial precedent for similar cases). '"Based on the evidence we have, it is true that Daesung hit the victim due to negligent driving. But it's hard to identify the direct connection between Daesung's negligent driving and the victim's death, and in that case, the benefit of doubt should be given. So we decided to drop any charges against Daesung."' an official from the prosecutor’s office said.[60] Daesung would remain on hiatus until November 6, 2011.
Koreans debated the situation 24/7 back then and the conclusion in the end was that we should give him a pass on this one. After all his only wrong doing was speeding over the limit by 20km/h at the wrong place at the wrong time as he had no intention to kill. However, it heavily affected his career at that time as it kind of tanked his solo gigs and turned him off promoting solo or in variety shows. Before that he was very popular in South Korea and while most fans were somewhat forgiving some definitely weren't as he was speeding. He essentially got kind of banished from South Korea for a few years which is also why he has fewer fans. He got lucky that his solo career in Japan took off. He also later revealed that he had suicidal thoughts during his hiatus in an episode of SBS' Healing Camp on February 20, 2012.
Prostitution building
In July 2018, Channel A reported that illegal adult entertainment businesses involving prostitution services were being operated in a building that Daesung owns. Daesung denied knowledge of any illegal activities and announced legal action against the alleged businesses. In 2019 a lawyer claimed Daesung was well aware of the prostitution and illegal adult entertainment that was taking place in his building.[61] Before that he had released an apology letter claiming he was unaware of what was happening as he had been serving in the army as soon as he bought the building. In 2020, after the Seoul Gangnam Police Station had questioned Daesung as a witness and reviewed documents and testimonies obtained through the results of a search and seizure they concluded that Daesung is cleared of suspicion and will not be charged.[62] This was a huge relief to fans.
G-Dragon
Illegal Marijuana Usage
At the same time Daesung was on hiatus due to his car accident, G-Dragon got into a controversy. On October 5, 2011, G-Dragon was indicted on charges of smoking marijuana. Marijuana is highly illegal in Korea, only just being legalized for specific instances of medicinal use back in November 2018. Investigators determined that G-Dragon smoked marijuana in Japan sometime in May. On June 15, G-Dragon was subject to a urine drug test, which came out negative. However, hair drug test results released in July showed signs of marijuana. G-Dragon confessed that he did consume a marijuana cigarette at a club in Japan. He didn’t know for sure that it was marijuana, but he still took it. Charges against G-Dragon were dropped for various reasons, including the fact that this was G-Dragon’s first criminal offense, and that the amount of marijuana that was found in his system was so small. G-Dragon temporarily halted all promotions following his marijuana scandal to reflect on his actions, and YG Entertainment also released their own statement, expressing their apologies to all V.I.Ps. Some Koreans noticed that G-Dragon suddenly shaved his head in August 2011, believing he was trying to avoid any further drug tests. However, Kim Hwe Jong of the Seoul Prosecutor’s Office shut down these rumors as the drug test took place beforehand.
Military Service Scandals
G-Dragon "Dry Humps" Dancer At All Ages Concert
Animal abuse scandal
T.O.P: Drug Usage And Overdose Scandals
T.O.P was known for having anxiety issues and depression and for consuming sedatives. However, on May 31, 2017 it was revealed that he smoked marijuana while he was serving in the military and with controversial trainee Han Seo Hee in October 2016. T.O.P apologized with a note four days later. On June 6, 2017 T.O.P was rushed to the hospital following a drug overdose just three days after his confession. Fans were devastated speculating a suicide. Two days later he finally regained consciousness and fully recovered. On June 29, 2017 he attended his trial where he admitted to using marijuana and where it was revealed that the trainee was his girlfriend, but he broke up with her. She however accused him of putting the blame on her. During that time his military service was put on hiatus.
MAMA 2014
Example Fanworks
Fanvideos
Fan initiatives
- International V.I.Ps sent on July 23, 2020 a truck to YG Entertainment building demanding proper treatment for BIGBANG. V.I.Ps demanded YG Entertainment to protect BIGBANG from anti-fans on social media as well as to create websites that can connect the fandom with the company to give them a platform to report rumors made about BIGBANG. V.I.Ps also asked YG Entertainment to add English subtitles to all their music videos to cater to their international fans. [63]
Resources
LiveJournal
- http://community.livejournal.com/omonatheydidnt/tag/big%20bang
- http://community.livejournal.com/bangingraphics/
- http://community.livejournal.com/gdheartri/
- http://community.livejournal.com/gdyb_love/
- http://community.livejournal.com/bigbang_fanfic/
- http://community.livejournal.com/g_top/
- http://community.livejournal.com/yg_bigbang/
- http://community.livejournal.com/yokshim/