4 K-pop idols who love Jay Park, despite his scandals, from BTS’ Suga and Aespa’s Ningning, to Ateez’ Mingi, who got backlash for joining Park’s Ganadara challenge
- Netizens claim Park ‘forced’ idols such as Jackson Wang and Ateez’ Mingi to do a challenge promoting his song Gandara featuring IU – but many K-pop stars are actually his fans
- This isn’t Park’s first controversy though: he was forced to leave boy band 2PM over leaked criticisms about Korea, and UFC fighter Brian Ortega once slapped him in the face
Jay Park is one of the K-pop industry’s most influential singers and savviest businessmen. He founded two record labels, Aomg and H1ghr Music, and recently started his own soju brand, Won Soju.
However, his life in the spotlight is far from unblemished. He was forced to leave his group 2PM because of leaked MySpace messages that criticised Korea and offended fans. He was even once slapped in the face by UFC fighter Brian Ortega, who got angry over his translation of comments from “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung-jung, who Park represented as part of his label.
As part of promotions for his new single Ganadara featuring IU, Park tapped stars like Jackson Wang and Ateez’ Mingi to do the Ganadara dance challenge with him. However, this was received negatively by netizens who claimed that Park “forced” idols to participate.
Park addressed this on Twitter by saying: “Whether people like it or not, I inspire a lot of their favourite idols. Just because they cheer me on does not mean you should take it out on them. If you’re a fan you shouldn't bully the person you’re a fan of. Think about how that makes them feel.”
So who are the idols who have been inspired by Jay Park?