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On May 28, 2023, fans took to Twitter to express their anger about Kep1er's continued mistreatment. They noticed an unpleasant detail following the birthday celebration of ZEROBASEONE's Ricky and Seok Matthew. ZEROBASEONE and Kep1er are both groups that were created through Mnet's survival shows, and fans were disappointed to note that Xiaoting's birthday livestream was largely different from Ricky and Matthew's.
Many factors, such as the cake size, the background decorations, and the members accompanying the person celebrating the birthday, provided a stark difference between the two groups. Since they both are housed under WAKEONE Entertainment, fans felt that the agency's actions were misogynistic.
Fans raise concerns over the continued mistreatment of Kep1er and its members by WAKEONE Entertainment
ZEROBASEONE is a pre-debut group that resulted from the recent reality survival show held by Mnet, Boys Planet. While this stands as the first fifth first-generation K-pop boys group, Mnet adopted a similar concept with the production of Kep1er through their previously held survival show, Girls Planet 999. After the conclusion of the show, both groups were housed under WAKEONE Entertainment.
During Xiaoting's birthday last year, i.e., November 12, 2022, fans noticed that the idol celebrated her birthday minimally, with a small bento cake, and no decorations. Moreover, she did her birthday livestream alone, with no members accompanying her. While this had already angered fans, they were more upset to compare it with the recently celebrated birthdays of Ricky and Seok Matthew.
Ricky, who celebrated his birthday on May 20, 2023, had a grand-themed birthday cake along with him seated on a throne-like chair. His livestream also showcased the background decorations while he flaunted elegant suit. Additionally, he also rolled out the livestream with fellow members Kim Gyu-vin and leader Sung Han-bin.
On the other hand, Seok Matthew's birthday was also just as extravagant as Ricky's, which was themed according to the idol's aesthetic. Meanwhile, Park Gun-wook and Kim Ji-woong, his fellow members, accompanied him for his birthday livestream.
As such, upon seeing the stark difference in the way WAKEONE Entertainment treats Kep1er and ZEROBASEONE, the fanbase was frustrated. Fans of both groups agreed on the mistreatment and poor management of the K-pop girl group and called out the agency for the same. However, the birthday celebration doesn't seem to be the only aspect of concern. Ever since Kep1er's debut in January 2022, fans have noticed several events of mismanagement by the agency.
The lack of promotions and marketing for their albums, overworking the members with continuous comebacks, their lack of security, repeating outfits for their stage performances, etc., are some of the concerns and events that fans bring to the forefront. Since the continuation of the same can harm the members and hinder Kep1er's path toward growth, fans protest against the same on several social media platforms.
As fans continue to notice issues of mistreatment by WAKEONE Entertainment and the double standards they hold between their male and female artists, they hope that the group either chooses to leave the agency or improv management from their agency.
