"He's literally a grown man": Fans defend The Boyz's Sangyeon as he earns criticism for his inappropriate joke in the group's dance practice video

By Aishwarya Sai

Modified Jul 31, 2023 08:57 GMT

On July 30, 2023, The Boyz's Sangyeon garnered attention for a specific comment during the group's recently released behind-the-scenes video for their 2nd World Tour, ZENERATION. The video showcased several exciting elements of the group's preparation for the tour, from dance practices to the time for relaxation in between.

However, what struck fans was something that happened in the beginning of the video.

When the members were getting in position for the dance choreography, Sangyeon, who was kneeling in front of his fellow member, said something that sounded like:

"Sal-kka-ji-geth-da (Your skin will peel off)."

As per Koreaboo, this word, derived from the word for the Japanese flute, "shakuhachi," stands as an underground Korean slang for oral s*x.

After the video reached the internet, many were unhappy with the idol's inappropriate joke and directed criticism towards him, prompting the makers to edit out that section of the video and reupload it.

Many fans on the internet are now defending Sangyeon, pointing out that he's old enough to make jokes about s*x.

Fans' reactions to the controversy (Image via Twitter)

Fans defend The Boyz's Sangyeon after comes under fire for his joke about oral s*x

In the unedited video of The Boyz's preparations for their second world tour, in the beginning, Sangyeon can be seen kneeling in front of New, whose back is towards the camera. Between the time-stamp of 0:04-0:05, the idol was allegedly heard cracking the joke that many deemed inappropriate due to it sounding similar to the word for oral s*x.

It must be noted that what exactly he said remains unclear, since the comment also sounded similar to "sal-ppa-ji-geth-da," which means one will lose weight.

However, given that New shouted "hyung!" in an almost alarming manner, fans are almost sure that it was a joke about oral s*x, which earned the idol a lot of criticism. The Boyz's fandom, however, has been defending the idol, pointing out that it's quite a normal joke and that there's nothing offensive about it, especially given that his group members are also of appropriate age.

Many also argued that Sangyeon is 26 years old and it is common for people at that age to know and joke about s*x. Some also highlighted the hypocrisy among fans and netizens who s*xualize and romanticize K-pop idols and their bodies but also criticize the same idols when they crack a joke along similar lines.

As mentioned earlier, the controversial segment of the tour video has now been removed and a new version without it has been uploaded to the channel.

Edited by Upasya Bhowal