On March 30, NewJeans was spotted filming on the streets of Taipei.
Before the sighting, the public did not know about the group’s schedule. So naturally, when the photos were posted, they spread like wildfire. However, alleged staff and NewJeans’ fans began to tell netizens to stop posting about the schedule, and a controversy erupted.
Controversy Erupts After NewJeans Got Spotted Filming On The Streets
Fans even berated a legendary singer and forced him to delete his post that only mentioned NewJeans being in Taipei. This added a massive amount of fuel to the fire and netizens were not pleased with the staff and fans’ actions.
NewJeans Fans Under Fire After Berating Legendary Singer For Mentioning The Group In Now-Deleted Post
Eventually, NewJeans’ agency ADOR issued a statement denying any wrongdoing by the staff on site.
The accusations that are being spread online are not true. We received official permission from the Taipei City Hall and the police force to film. We conducted our filming within the scope of the permission that we obtained.
At the time, our staff had a sign asking people not to take any pictures, but there were people taking pictures within the area that we were asking for no filming. In these cases, our staff politely asked for the photos to be deleted, and everyone who was asked cooperated. There were no cases of loud voices or disrespect at the filming site.
– ADOR
However, netizens were not pleased with the statement. One of them, a passerby who actually happened to come across the filming and accused the staff of inappropriate behaviors, even went as far as to get in touch with government officials to confirm whether they received permission to film.
I just received a call back from the legislator’s office. They asked the Traffic Section of two districts (Wanhua and Songshan), and the responses were that they really did not receive any approval for road closure. The legislator’s office basically said if the press asks, that would be the answer. The company in violation will be blacklisted, and it will not be easy for them to apply for road use permits in the future.
– Passerby
Other netizens stood by the passerby.
- “We can’t just let this go; Taiwan has been accused of making up rumors.”
- “ADOR did not expect to run into a passerby with so much fight in them.”
- “Hwaiting, OP.”
- “Since the legislator confirmed there was no road closure approval, laws have been broken. Does ADOR want to challenge Taiwan’s public power?”
What do you think the truth is?
Source: PTT