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HYBE’s employees managing &TEAM continue to draw ire from fans. On July 11, 2023, videos of the group’s bodyguards shoving fans who were trying to get close to the idol group went viral on Twitter. In other clips, the security personnel could be heard screaming at the top of their lungs. One particular clip also showed that the bodyguards used umbrellas to shield people from taking photographs of the singers.
Fans who saw the videos online were heavily divided in their opinions. While on the one hand the majority of Korean netizens on the South Korean forum, theqoo, criticized the bodyguards for their alleged excessive violence, international fans on Twitter defended them and expressed that it was needed because people were invading their personal space a bit too much.
Netizens have mixed reactions to &TEAM’s bodyguards using violence at the airport
HYBE Labels Japan’s first Japanese boy group, &TEAM, has recently been making headlines for unfortunate reasons. Earlier, the people in charge of body checks at the Scent of You singers’ fan sign were accused of s*xual harassment by several attendees. Most recently, on July 11, fans criticized the group’s bodyguards for alleged excessive violence and yelling at an airport.
A particular attendee on Twitter created an account with the username @kfpSN2EHDE86996 to post videos of the alleged poor treatment of the fans at the airport by &TEAM’s bodyguards. One clip particularly showed a bodyguard shoving a person to the side, while another clip showed a broad view of the people at the airport and some bodyguards screaming.
Translation of the tweet via pannchoa reads,
"I feel like the security is posing more of a threat;;;"
"Ah this was so f**king funny I took a video. Those umbrellas f**k ㅋㅋㅋ"
On the South Korean forum, theqoo, fans expressed their surprise at the loud screaming. One netizen mentioned that the bodyguards were “oversensitive” and had an “overreaction.” Another netizen even said that the security person had shoved the fan too “violently.”
On the other hand, international fans on Twitter took the side of the security personnel. Many of them criticized the people who had crowded the airports, despite the particular schedule being a private one. They shared that it was difficult to know when &TEAM would appear at the airport, considering the schedule wasn’t a public one.
While on theqoo, netizens shared that the airport wasn’t as noisy, people on Twitter mentioned the lack of personal space given to the Japanese idols. The latter also added that the bodyguards were doing their jobs and wouldn’t need to take extreme steps if fans had remained at a peaceful distance. Some fans also noted that the bodyguards could be heard screaming at fans not to come near the group.
Meanwhile, HYBE Labels Japan hasn’t addressed the backlash as of yet.
In other news, &TEAM made their much-awaited comeback after nearly six months on June 14 with the release of their second EP, First Howling: WE, and its title track, Firework. On July 11, the group released an official music video of the album’s b-side, Road Not Taken, on YouTube.
