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On Friday, February 7, NCT's Jeno accidentally mentioned Taeil during a Weverse livestream while interacting with fans. During the livestream, he talked about several things, such as new updates in his life and answering fans' questions. One of the questions asked to the idol through the comments was about NCT's AWSAZ episodes.
AWSAZ, or It's Awkward but It's Ok, is a YouTube series featuring NCT members. The show pairs two members who aren't quite familiar with each other to interact and get to know more about each other. One fan mentioned that they'd like to see an AWSAZ episode between Jisung and Jeno, despite the two being close friends.
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When addressing the comment, Jeno briefly revisited his AWSAZ episode with Taeil from 2020. He started to mention the former member's name but quickly corrected himself and kept the topic short. He noted that despite filming the AWSAZ episode with Taeil, he never got close to him. During the Weverse livestream, he stated:
"Taeil and I— oops. The member whom I took the AWSAZ picture with… I don’t know if I could say that we became closer friends just because we posed for that picture together. Let’s move on!"
After the was posted online, fans were glad that the idol mentioned the former NCT member in the livestream and clarified that they never became friends. This was the first time any of the members had spoken about the idol since his departure from NCT following his s*x crime scandal. One fan on X wrote:
"honestly Jeno is so real lmao idk how everybody never mentioned Tae-il for months Id be the first in hating on him"
"Jeno was basically saying he never liked that guy and never got closer to him," said a fan on X.
"NOT JENO PANICKING WHEN HE MENTIONED TA-EIL," added another fan.
"Jeno's face when he realized that he mentioned Ta-eil without meaning to XDKDNFKDNFKSLWKEKFKK," commented a netizen.
Netizens shared their opinion on Jeno accidentally mentioning Taeil during his latest Weverse livestream.
"From what I understood, they asked him about the awkward ones and he said he was never close to him XKDKDKJSDJ," stated a fan.
"jeno does not give a f*ck about He who shall not be named since the very beginning," added an X user.
"jeno is so real because 1) he has no filter 2) he won't let himself be associated with idiots like taeil and i'm GLAD i love you jeno lee," said a netizen.
"I imagine them gossiping all the time about "I always said that Tae-il was weird, see?" It came out naturally," commented another X user.
All you need to know about former NCT member Taeil's s*x crime scandal and eventual departure from the group
In August 2024, SM Entertainment announced that NCT's Taeil had decided to depart the K-pop boy group following legal proceedings of his s*x crime. The agency revealed that they learned about the lawsuit and, after verifying facts, decided on his departure. The statement read:
"We have recently confirmed that Taeil has been implicated in a criminal case related to a s*xual offense. After verifying the facts related to this matter and recognizing the seriousness of the situation, we have determined that he can no longer continue his activities with the team and have decided to remove him from the group after discussions with him."
They added that he was cooperating with the police investigations about the case. News Nate, a South Korean media outlet, reported that the idol was booked for his s*xual offense charges back in June 2024. However, this information wasn't revealed to his fellow members or his agency, SM Entertainment, until mid-August 2024.
Subsequently, in October, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office revealed that the idol was charged with quasi-r*pe, involving a s*xual assault with two other non-celebrity men. He was accused of assaulting an intoxicated foreign woman.
Following the scandal, all NCT members unfollowed the idol on his social media and refrained from mentioning him or talking about the scandal.
