Celebrities have been increasingly criticized for taking their fans for granted: Some celebrities have been refusing to take a selfie with fans, declined prom invitations, and cancelled their apperances in concerts and meet-and-greets. However, some fans take ownership on their favorite celebrities too far. These six moments in which fans go too far offers some of the reasons why your faves wished death on their fans while taking an elevator.
EXILE TRIBE/Sandaime J Soul Brothers Fan Sexually Harasses Band Member at a High Five/Meet and Greet Event
During the Japanese idol boom sparked by idol group AKB48, meet and greets became increasingly vital in marketing and sales in the music industry. Both boybands and girl groups started to host handshake events (As well as other variations such as high five events) to meet their fans while offering them a bonus incentive to buy their music. However, these events also sometimes invite unwarranted behavior from fans.
On November 2014, EXILE TRIBE (A supergroup consisting of several boybands within LDH agency) held a high five event to promote their latest release. During the event, a fan wrote sexually explicit messages on their hands and arms to catch the attention of Imaichi Ryuuji.
Translation provided by source:
“High Five Report
Me: Ryu-kun, look over here
When I showed him the hand in the picture
Ryu: [Instant straight face] Wait wait wait
Imaichi stretched his hand out and stopped, then did a “nyanchuu smile”
I am overjoyed to be stopped by Ryu-kun”
Although netizens criticized the fan for sexually harassing Imaichi and bragging about it on Twitter, the incident was never publically addressed by LDH, EXILE TRIBE, or Sandaime J Soul Brothers. However, one cand only imagine how members of these idol groups feel about greeting thousands of fans and possibly being harassed multiple times within each event without being able to do much about it due to possibly alienating fans.
... also ryuuji? i know he has a brother that does jgv but come on there are better looking members than him
Sex Sells: Lady Gaga Fans Offer Sexual Favors for Sales (Note: Contains Thirst Tweet)
"Sex sells" is a common phrase used to summarize the the prevalent use of sex to sell products in today's market. However, whoever came up with this phrase probably didn't intend to also cover consumers themselves to sell sex to buy the product. During Lady Gaga's ARTPOP era, a fan on twitter was concerned about ARTPOP's relatively low album sales and the impending dragging from Madonna fans. While some tried to disuade the fan from going through with it, he ultimately did the deed, bought 45 copies of ARTPOP, and gave them out to kids.
While the idea itself is already absurd, the details brings up other questions. Why only 80 dollars? Did the advertising of sex for Gaga sales lower the value of his service? If so, couldn't he just not mention the album, charge more, and buy more copies? Or does the increased clientelle from appealing to Little Monsters more than make up for the reduced revenue per person?
Regardless, this is not the first time Lady Gaga fans sold sex for sales. Earlier in the same album era, Lady Gaga hosted a contest in which two fans with the most receipts and/or radio requests get to attend the iTunes Festival with Lady Gaga herself. Needless to say, the Little Monsters hussled and some spent hundreds of dollars to meet their long lost Mother Monster. One fan decided to take it to the next level and offered blowjobs for Applause sales (And maybe a handie if you watched the music video on Youtube).
According to the source, Applause retails for $1.29 at the time of the Craigslist post. Once again, this brings up the important questions. Why only $1.29? Did the advertising of blowjobs for Gaga sales lower the value of his service? If so, couldn't he just not mention it, charge more, and buy more copies? Or does the increased clientelle from appealing to Little Monsters more than make up for the reduced revenue per person? How many blowjobs at $1.29 does it take in order to hit the average value of a blowjob? What is the duration of each blowjob in order to fulfill the additional blowjobs that comes with the influx of the Little Monsters demographic? How does this shorter blowjob impact the quality of the blowjob? Would the person have enough time to blow all those Little Monsters to make up for the reduced value? What IS the value of a blowjob?
Either way, let's just hope for Gaga's sake she doesn't have an RSS feed of herself at the time or else she'd have a lot of questions for her fans.
Larries
Gay shipping isn't exactly new. Whether it's two underaged video game characters that are part of the Disney franchise, an interspecies relationsihp involving a detective/Lochness Monster and his human friend, or a 16 year old card game enthusiast and the three to five thousand year old pharoah that lives inside of him, it's definitely something that has been around for ages. However, things get especially creepy when it involves real people instead of characters. Enter Larry.
For those unaware, Larry is a subsection of the One Direction fanbase that ships members Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles (A documentary on this fanbase can be seen
here). While the shipping of two real people is creepy enough, it's the conspiracy theories shared among this fanbase that makes it especially questionable.
Some of these conspiracy theories includes their
girlfriends are beards, the two are secretly married
because of rainbow BDSM bears or something (As someone that isn't a fan of 1D, I don't get it and even Palumbo-Liu is easier to read/understand), and Louis Tomlinson's child (Freddie Tomlinson) is either
not really Louis' child or
Larry's surrogate baby.
To make matters worse, it is pretty clear that at least half of Larry is aware of this fanbase and forced to address them (Only to be accused that
#management is shutting down
#truelove and still insist that Larry is real)
To summarize this section for those that don't want to open a thousand links to read the details: This is some gaijin
fujoshi shit that fetishizes gay people, but don't say it out loud or else you're supposedly homophobic for denying Larry. Speaking of which, I guess I suffer from internalized homophobia now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Scarlet Letter: K-Pop Edition
In 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the romantic masterpiece The Scarlet Letter, the story about two heathens that fell in love with each other and died because they're fucking heathens. However, this is not the scarlet letter that will be covered. No, we're talking about the more romantic, intimate K-Pop version of the scarlet letter.
In 2009, a fan of Korean boyband 2PM published her version of The Scarlet Letter that puts Fifty Shades of Grey to shame. What is this version of The Scarlet Letter you ask? It's a fan letter to her favorite member Taecyeon. But what makes it so special? It's all in the ink.
You see, this fan understands romance (Unlike Nathaniel Hawthorne and E.L. James). She knows that it's all about the sentiment? And what's more sentimental than adding a piece of you into your art? And what better way to accomplish this goal than to write the letter with your period and sprinkle in some of your pubes?
Translation by Source:
I dedicate to Taecyeon my period blood letter
Ok Taecyeon, You cannot live without me
Sprinkled with a few strands of my pubes
Erotic. Sensual. ARTPOPish. Nothing can compare to this ode to love. Of course, these jealous nugus can't handle the epitome of love, so they attack the fan aka Aphrodite Incarnate by calling it fake. So of course, the goddess herself blessed them with the proof needed to show that unlike Buzzfeed (To any Buzzfeed employee planning on stealing this ONTD original, make sure to remove this part!), she's no plagarist: Her bloody pad.
Needless to say, fans were not happy at all because they were not prepared to be blinded by the purest form erotica, so they attacked her with even more comments. The fangirl eventually posted an apology, but later threatened lawsuits against commenters after they left more hateful comments on her blog. Poor girl, so misunderstood. So ahead of her time. Xtine understands completely.
Anti-Fan Poisons TVXQ's Yunho
While the previous topic highlights the sun and rainbows (But mostly red) of K-Pop, not everything is nice. In 2006, TVXQ's Yunho was promoting the group's third album when someone he assumed was staff came up to him and offered him an orange juice beverage. However, after he drank it, he noticed a weird smell and began to feel sick. He later vommitted blood and fainted.
It turns out that it was not a staff member that came up to him; it was actually an anti-fan. The anti-fan applied super glue containing the poison inside the container. She later turned herself into the police after feeling guilty when she saw the amount of coverage the incident got. She claims that although she was an anti-fan, she did it as a joke and did not expect Yunho to actually drink the beverage because that's totally how pranks work.
While Yunho recovered from the incident, he did not address the incident publically until six years later. On a variety show apperance, he revealed that he considered quitting the entertainment industry soon after the incident. He also revealed the traumatic effects of the incident. He had difficulty talking with other people because his eyes would always wander and he probably developed an anxiety disorder. This lead to him seeking treatment.
This incident ultimately lead to management/agencies being more vigilant with fan gifts, some of whom outright refuse fan gifts to prevent a repeat of this incident. While some fans of groups/celebrities loathe rules that prevent them from giving gifts to them, incidents such as this one highlight why these rules are in place despite how it seemingly punishes fans.
The Stabbing of Tomita Mayu (Warning: Contains details about the stabbing and disturbing behavior from the suspect)
Even though the Yunho poisoning incident involved an anti-fan, instances of fans trying to kill the person they stan also occurred. Last year, idol and former member of Secret Girls Tomita Mayu was stabbed 34 times by a fan. Wounds have been found on her arms, neck, back, and chest. She suffered a cardiac arrest and was in a coma after arriving to the hospital. Although the wounds on the neck in particular were deep, she suffered no fatal damage to her heart or internal organs and woke up from her coma about three weeks later.
Meanwhile, police arrested Tomohiro Iwazaki as a suspect of the incident. Iwazaki admits to stabbing her with the intent to kill because "I sent her presents, but I felt indignant when they were returned. I asked her on the spot what the problem was, but when she gave me vague answers I lost control and stabbed her countless times". Netizens also found a Twitter account that is highly suspected to belong to the suspect as it mostly contained tweets towards Tomita asking her about the gifts he sent and why they were returned as well as rants about Tomita (Including a declaration of wanting to marry Tomita). Iwazaki's brother also described him as "unskillful in expressing his emotions" and as "not having many friends".
After regaining consciousness, Tomita testified in court. She reveals that she actually reported to the police about Iwazaki four months prior to the stabbing incident because she was concerned about how he was stalking her and constantly tweeting directly at her and dragged them in a letter in the past for not doing anything about it. She also expressed anger and frustration at how the police's first question they asked in the questioning was "Do you really think he might have murdered you?"
Tomita also confirms Iwazaki's claim of how the incident occurred. She stated that he kept trying to talk to her, so she threatened to call the police, and was then stabbed on the right side of her stomach. As he was stabbing her, Iwazaki kept yelling "DIE! DIE! DIE" Tomita also reported the effects of the injuries from the incident. Not only does she have difficulty talking and eating, but she also suffers vision problems and PTSD symptoms. She specifically mentions how she felt uneasy whenever someone visited her at the hospital and how she felt that anyone could come and stab her. She asserts that the most important things in her life has been taken away because of her injuries: Acting, singing, and studying at college. “I want my everyday life back,” Tomita begged while weeping, “I want my former body with no injuries back!”
It was reported that throughout Tomita's testimony, Iwazaki was seen smiling as he listened to it. At the end of Tomita's testimony, Iwazaki screamed “Well, kill me then!” and “There is no way I would kill you!" The judges had Iwazaki removed from the courtoom citing clear incompetence.
Despite the media initially reporting Iwazaki potentially facing at least 17 years when he was arrested by police, the judges sentened him for only 14.5 years in prison. In their explanation on the ruling, one of the judges stated that there was evidence of a planned attempt to stab Tomita and a very firm intent to kill. One of the judges also mentioned that there was a motion to potentially throw out the case due to Iwazaki's outburst and question of competence, but they ultimately decided it was against the best interest of the case. Finally, they stated that Tomita's bravery, constant weeping [like a child], and clear signs of suffering played a role in the decision of the ruling.
The day following the ruling, Tomita had her lawyer read out her statement to the press:
“On the day that I spoke for the first time about the experience in court, I couldn’t properly even speak as I felt remorse. I had the feeling that I wanted to accomplish so many things even by whatever it takes. However, when I entered the courtroom and had to read my one-page statement in front of the suspect, fear rushed in and my voice didn’t come out. I was truly shocked when the suspect suddenly yelled [during my testimony]. It frighted me but I instructed myself that I can’t give up.
Nevertheless, the criminal only received a mere 14 years. He is walking on the other side of the fence. So, I am only feeling nothing but fear and anxiety.”
While the incident clearly raises issues regarding police and the court system, the incident also raises questions for stans both within the idol industry and in general. How much do the celebrities owe the fans that support their career? At what point does the line cross from expecting some gratitude towards fans versus toxic perceptions of ownership over the celebrity? And in what ways does the industry itself feeds into unhealthy perceptions of ownership over celebrities?
SourcesRyuuji
1Lady Gaga
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3Larry
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7Taecyeon
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2Yunho
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3Tomita Mayu
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