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International and local fans defended THE BOYZ’s 24-year-old member New, aka Choi Chan-hee, from a fan meet controversy that seemed to go viral on Twitter.
The tweets from a Korean netizen who attended the group's recent fan sign spread online on March 12, 2023, with people bombarding criticism on New. The fan, who attended the in-person fan sign, wanted to test THE BOYZ members' grip and brought equipment for the same.
They noted the five band members’ strength numbers later, including New’s, who ranked last.
Another fan pointed out New’s score on the Bubble platform, and the singer replied that he did not wish to participate in it. He added that he had informed the person in the fan sign for the same, but it seemed that she “ended up posting the score after all.”
Many fans began apprehending the singer for allegedly calling out the fan publicly. As criticisms grew, others rose to defend the idol, with some claiming that he received hate for no reason.
THE BOYZ New’s Bubble message lands him in trouble, but fans defend
THE BOYZ’s member New, unfortunately, landed in troubled waters after he sent a message on Bubble. The Thrill-ing singers recently held an in-person fan sign where a fan’s unique experience went viral on social media after New’s message. The fan in question held a grip test and posted the five members’ scores, revealing that New only scored 12, while others scored above 30.
As the numbers swirled around on social media, a fan asked New about the poor results on Bubble. The 24-year-old replied that he didn’t want to do it and shared his feelings about the same with the fan. Although he did still participate for the sake of the fan, he wasn't sure if he would post the results online.
The fan, who asked the question, wondered what happened to New's score, to which he said that he didn't want to "test stuff like that," and added:
"So I barely grabbed the thing. But I guess she ended up posting the score after all.”
The singer reiterated that he didn't want to do it, but fans instantly began criticizing New, and said that it was unfair of him to call out a fan publicly. The fan has since made her account private and even deleted the grip test score tweet.
Despite all the criticism, there were other fans who defended their idol. While one fan said that New wasn't "some sort of pet," another said that the idol must've been too tired and mentioned that at the end of the day, THE BOYZ member was a human too. A fan also noted that asking idols to do a grip test seemed like a waste of the fan sign slot.
Meanwhile, THE BOYZ returned with their eighth mini-album titled Be Awake on February 20, 2023. It is the group’s first release in 2023 and comes approximately six months after their last release, Be Aware, in August 2022. The group’s latest release’s title track, ROAR, won the fifth trophy on March 10, 2023, broadcast of Music Bank.
