So this thing about Irene.

There’s a scandal going around about Irene that is gaining a lot of traction and I have a LOT of thoughts about it that I want to share. This is all just my opinion, none of it is facts and I hope it gets others just thinking about things as well. I feel like there are so many sides to this and the issue is a lot more complex than ‘oh, she’s just rude’ and it speaks on the industry as a whole, the Korean entertainment industry in particular.

I want to preface this by saying I am a fan of Red Velvet and have been since debut. Irene has always been one of my favorite members, but I’ll try to be as unbiased as I can here. I also spent a year living in Korea recently so I have a better understanding of Korean culture than I used to. The biggest thing I learned while living there is that it’s all about appearances. This is a key theme for what I’m about to discuss.

So a bunch of industry staff members are coming out and sharing stories and experiences about Irene’s rude behavior towards staff members. It all started with that veteran editor’s post, which a lot of people have been critical of. I want to address this part first.

This editor is incredibly smart and is exacting revenge on Irene perfectly. This is a person who was proven to work with Irene in the past, so I can only imagine that after having positive experiences with her before, being attacked like that was even more shocking than we’re imagining already. This editor probably had some trust established with Irene already because of past experiences of working with her positively. I understand where the editor is coming from when they say Irene abused her power, because as someone who is rich, successful, and beautiful, she does wield a lot of power in Korean society. If another staff member tried to pull the same behavior, they would lose their job or be heavily scolded by their boss. They wouldn’t dream of doing something like that. Scoldings and personal attacks are just part of the job in Korea (I know because I’ve received them before from bosses who were condescending towards me and when I asked them to not speak to me that way, their reasoning was ‘but I’m upset’. It’s common). Irene ranting, or scolding, this editor is not so uncommon in Korean work cultures, and the descriptions of other staff members being ‘used’ to her behavior and treatment of them doesn’t surprise me or shock me. I’m more shocked that someone actually spoke up about it, because that can come back on them hard. Who wants to hire an editor with a loose tongue? Who else will they expose? It’s ‘bad business’ in their eyes, not justice. It’s all about appearances.

The only reason this editor is speaking up is because they have seniority, which is about the only thing that trumps appearances in Korea. If you’re a sunbae, then you have the authority, and rarely will people go against you whether you’re right or completely wrong (I experienced this with an old manager who refused to go against the director even if what she was doing to us was completely wrong). This is the only reason I can reason out that this editor would speak up about it, which answers the question of “why now?” that a lot of netizens are asking. It’s now because this editor has enough seniority to still book jobs.

The reason I say this editor is incredibly smart is because they have assumed the power in this situation. Irene ranted at this editor because she knew at the time that she could get away with it because of her status. She didn’t anticipate that this editor would share this publicly because usually that means the editor wouldn’t have a job afterwards. However, this editor is a vet, and would probably still get jobs regardless if others hadn’t spoken out against Irene as well.

Now this is where it gets interesting, because this editor has ‘recordings’ of the actual rant that they have yet to release. Whether they actually do have it recorded or not, I have no idea, but it was the perfect way to get Irene to confess to it herself. It’s better to jump the gun, expose yourself and be ‘remorseful’ than to wait to be exposed and have the apology seem forced. This *looks* better for Irene, but it also ensures that she exposes herself. Editor’s skin is saved. If the editor doesn’t actually have any recordings of the rant, well played. If they do, however, then they’re waiting to release it to keep the issue relevant and give a platform for others to come out about Irene on. This editor has all the power, since Irene is now reacting to whatever this editor does. They have Irene’s (now fragile) image in the palm of their hand, and it’s kind of amazing to witness a staff member take control of a situation like that. Good for them.

Anonymous accounts are coming out now, and whether they’re true or not, I don’t really care. Idols go through a lot so explosions like this are bound to happen. There’s a lot of stress and pressure on idols who get scrutinized for everything and have their lives controlled by the public essentially, so am I surprised or appalled that she took it out on someone? Absolutely not. It happens, we’re human. That’s the kicker though: idol appearances. It’s all about appearances again, and idols are portrayed as completely perfect beings who can do no wrong. So, when they do something that just about everyone has done at least once or twice in their lifetimes, it’s blown out of proportion because we put these celebrities on a pedestal, or at least Korea does. A toe out of line and it’s the end of the world.

My conclusion is that Irene is simply a diva, and so what if she is? Divas are celebrated in the west for their attitudes and fortitude. Why not in the east too? Why does Irene being a human with both positive *and negative* traits have to be enough for Red Velvet to pull out of an ambassador role for an upcoming festival and cancel their fan event? It’s ridiculous if you ask me. To think Irene, or any idol for that matter, is a perfect little angel is unreasonable. This shouldn’t even be a scandal. Korea has a different mentality towards their celebrities though, and I doubt that’s changing anytime soon. This editor was able to manipulate that mentality to their benefit though, and I applaud them for it. If anything, this editor will get what they want out of it, which is Irene watching who she treats rudely in the future. She’s got a reputation now, which means she has to watch herself from now on. Like I’ve said many times already, it’s all about appearances.

Will I stop supporting Irene and Red Velvet? Of course not, I’ll continue supporting them. Irene having human flaws doesn’t bother me, and the accounts defending tell me she isn’t just some raging biatch that runs around and yells at every person who crosses her path.