There’s been one unfortunate running joke that has followed Red Velvet since the beginning of their career in 2014 until now. The joke is that SM Entertainment often uses the group’s comeback announcements to cover up or draw attention away from massive scandals happening within the company.
While the joke has always been just that — a joke — fans have started to think that the “coincidence” has now happened one too many times. From members leaving their groups in dramatic fashion to massive scandals, here are five times fans think SM used Red Velvet to divert attention.
1. f(x) Sulli’s 2014 Rumors
2014 was a tumoltuos year for f(x) and Sulli. The popular idol was on the receiving end of constant malicious comments, dating rumors, and even pregnancy accusations for some time. Due to the continuous nature of these rumors, Sulli requested to take a break in the middle of the group’s “Red Light” promotions. On July 25, 2014, SM Entertainment announced that “Sulli is very tired both mentally and physically due to constant malicious comments and untrue rumors, complaining of pain, and has informed the company that she wishes to take a break from entertainment activities for a while.”
Only days after, on July 28, SM Entertainment officially announced Red Velvet’s debut with a teaser clip and subsequent announcement posted on their website. While there had been rumors about a new SM girl group debuting since March of that year, the sudden way SM dropped very few teaser photos and the announcement with little to no prior promotion had netizens raising their eyebrows at the timing.
2. Girls’ Generation’s Jessica Departure
The Red Velvet “damage control” joke started taking shape as early as their first-ever comeback announcement. Only weeks after the (then four) members had wrapped up “Happiness” promotions, SM Entertainment announced that the group would be having their first comeback with another single. This time, they would release “Be Natural” — a remake of former SM Entertainment girl group S.E.S.’s song by the same name.
The announcement immediately sparked “cover-up” allegations as it coincided with the dramatic departure of Girls’ Generation’s Jessica from the group. Jessica announced on her Weibo account that she had been “forced out of the group” on September 30 — Red Velvet’s “Be Natural” announcement followed on October 7.
3. EXO’s Tao Departure
In early 2015, more precisely in March of that year, rumors were swirling around Weibo that former EXO member Tao was looking to leave the group due to unjust contract terms. A gossip Weibo page started the rumor on the night of March 2 stating EXO’s member Huang Zitao nullifies his contract with SM Entertainment and signs with Huayi Brothers. He will also star in the movie version of ‘My Sunshine.’”
While the rumor would only later be proven true, yet another Red Velvet comeback coincided with an SM Entertainment PR nightmare. Only days after the rumors reached their peak, SM announced that Red Velvet would be getting a new member, Yeri. Yeri’s addition was announced on March 11, together with the announcement of Red Velvet’s first-ever mini album, Ice Cream Cake.
4. Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany Scandal
The Girls’ Generation star was embroiled in a massive scandal in late August 2016 after posting a picture of herself with Sooyoung and Yuri at the SMTown Family Concert after-party the day before Korea’s Liberation Day. The date is a holiday that celebrates Korea’s independence from Japan’s colonial rule from 1910-1945. While Tiffany swiftly deleted the picture, the star had used a controversial symbol on her Snapchat story as well — a rising sun flag filter, symbol of Japanese imperialism.
Similarly to the previous instances, the Red Velvet comeback announcement followed days after. The girl group went on to release their first teaser for Russian Roulette on September 1 and unveiled their third mini album on September 7.
5. NCT Johnny & Haechan Orgy Scandal
Lastly, the most recent scandal that made these fan accusations resurface is NCT Johnny and Haechan’s alleged sex scandal. It all blew up when a Twitter user — known for his connections surrounding Japan’s nightlife — accused Haechan and Johnny of having a 5-way with three girls. Two of which were allegedly NCT fans.
While these remain as only accusations so far, SM Entertainment has yet to respond to them. However, the company had time to release an announcement about Red Velvet’s new comeback which will be released this June. Though the girls had been filming comeback content for weeks, and the members had even teased the date days before, SM only publicly announced the comeback early this morning, the day after NCT’s accusations gained traction.
‼️Red Velvet will make their comeback by the end of this month.https://t.co/yMjBpYxO4z pic.twitter.com/Firk9wI2dO
— Kpop Charts (@kchartsmaster) June 4, 2024
