The Jaebeom scandal

2PM and the Jaebeom scandal
Jay had posted some comments on his myspace when he was training in JYP. And his shit got dug up by a netizen (or two) who then put said posts on ultimate blast with some pretty bad consequences.

Back in 2005 and 2007 Jay had posted some messages on his myspace page expressing his distaste with Korea and his time being spent there.

wassup foo....haven talked to ur gay face in a while...watchu bin doin...watch do now a days...still havin pissy fits boutchur rappin?.....korea is gay...i hate koreans.....i wanna come back

n e ways...yeah man korea is whack..but everyone thinks i'm the illest rapper wen i suck nuts at rappin...so dass pretty dope...haha


I laughed at some of the silly shit Jay said. But he was wrong for was the "I hate Koreans" comment. That's the kinda shit you either keep to yourself, say amongst close peeps behind closed doors and when you're a comedian with a punch line that's going somewhere that makes sense. Not a flippant thing you immortalize in a myspace comment.

And as we've seen from Wild bunny, the dude is far from perfect: which is part of his charm. The dude just vented on his myspace like many other myspacers and Facebookers have done, and continue to do. Difference is, Jay's in a position where these vents can bite him in the arse - even 4 years after they were posted. And he's in the spotlight in a country where netizens will do what it takes to either build you up and support you a ridiculous amount, or turn the tables and bring you down. Jay was a complete naive idiot to have posted this shit though. Especially whilst he was training with JYP at the time.

The Jay situation is not one sided. Because whilst netizens are blowing this out of complete proportion, I can understand why they're pissed off. To hear somebody you idolize and love say they hate you, your people, your country and all you stand for is going to piss you off to no end and make you wish the person that said it would piss off. But then on Jay's part; we need to understand that he may have been isolated at the time. And judging from the myspace posts, this was the only connection he had to home at the time and the only place he had to vent. Being thurst into a new culture that's new to you: where people aren't always going to be open and perceptive to you is going to frustrate you and make you feel animosity towards them all. I'm not defending what Jay said. For him to have made such a comment, and to say it on myspace at that was stupid and wrong. It's a tough one. Jay was wrong, but did he really deserve the mass backlash? The netizens are blowing the situation out of proportion, but are they wrong for feeling upset if these feeling are genuine and not out of spite?

Initially I thought Jay didn't have a thing to worry about. But clearly he did, because he soon decided to quit 2PM amidst all of the scandal. Jay should've reached out to me. I would've help him weather the storm. If he'd followed my advice by wearing a sailor outfit with some short 1970's shorts, knee high socks whilst doing the whole routine to the SNSD-bots "Genie" on Music bank with a flash of the 6 pack - then every chick in Korea would love him again and not even remember this myspace shit. But that ship has sailed back to Seattle, along with Jay's career.

This couldn't have happened at a worst time. To say 2PM are currently Korea's most popular band wouldn't be an understatement. And for the group to lose not only their leader; but one of the most vocal, outspoken and funniest members is a real blow. It's shame it came to this. I think Jay should have been a soldier and fought this out in Korea. It's not like quitting your regular 9 to 5 job. A dude quit on his dream! Did he think this through long enough? I wasn't in his shoes and don't know the intense pressure he was under at the time, so it's easy for me to say from the sidelines. It is a shame Jay got so backed into a corner that he felt the only way out was to quit the group. He's lucky he has a place to retreat to and that back home in Seattle he can live a relatively normal life. God would have had to have helped him if he didn't have Seattle to go back to.

JYP's got a real problem on his hands now. 2PM can still go on without Jay, but the dynamic in the group will be completely different both on stage and behind closed doors. It'd be great if in a year or two, Jay returned to the group. It'd certainly be a big deal and give 2PM some spiked publicity. It just depends on whether Jay would feel up to facing Korea and if they'd forgive him. Because they sure as hell won't forget.

Comments

  1. 2pm won't be the same without Jay. It's a shame. I think the netizens were way too harsh on something written 4 years ago. Yes, it was wrong, but damn, not enough to justify leaving the group. Or netizens composing a suicide petition. That one blew my mind.

    Anyway, I hope he reconsiders coming back one day.

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  2. I don't think he should've left. Make an apology, release a speech. He was only a teenager when he wrote that too; being one, I sure as hell know how stupid we are, so I don't think it should be as big of a deal as it was made out to be.

    Even I'll miss those six pack flashes though. The K-Pop game is gonna be short one more guy that actually looks like a guy.

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  3. well i guess if you are working as a star people will really find a way to make a mountain out of a mole i mean like Jay's situation everybody makes mistake and it's inevitable sometimes to be tactless especially when you are at height that you seem to be alone in the place,i guess they just made the issue too BIG and they are way too harsh to that talented dude

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