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Here’s why BLACKPINK’s Jennie greeting fans as Rubies stirred up controversy with Kwon Eunbi's fans
BLACKPINK’s Jennie addressing fans as Rubies created quite the controversy before her agency’s clarifications. Read on to know why.
BLACKPINK’s Jennie recently faced backlash for addressing her fans as Rubies. On September 19, through her new website, the K-pop idol shared a brief audio message saying, “Hi Rubies, It’s Jennie. Stay tuned and see you soon. Love you, bye.” While her fans were excited to hear from their beloved K-pop star after a while, her greeting stirred up quite a controversy among netizens.
Jennie’s audio message initially created quite the buzz as many thought it to be the announcement of her new fandom name Rubies, ahead of her highly-anticipated full-length solo album release. However, the BLACKPINK rapper and her agency OA soon started facing a backlash. Netizens quickly pointed out that her new fandom name is exactly the same as Kwon Eunbi’s fanbase RUBI.
In the K-pop industry, using the same fandom names is seen as a major taboo, since it is considered the identity of the entire fan community of an artist or group. Hence, she was criticized for this ‘careless’ behavior.
However, her agency ODD ATELIER soon clarified that she merely used Rubies to address the fans in her new website update and it wasn’t used officially. OA further emphasized that Rubies is not the official fandom name for her solo career.
Despite the clarification, she is still facing backlash from netizens, who ‘called her out’ for not handling it properly, noting that the preparation of her website along with the fan greeting was a pre-planned effort.
They have also criticized OA for ‘lack of effort’ when it comes to research into other K-pop artists’ fandom names, mentioning that they only came up with a statement after it led to confusion.
However, her fans have since come to Jennie's defense saying that both names are still different by a letter.
Meanwhile, the BLACKPINK member is preparing for a vital moment in her solo career. Recently, she signed with Columbia Records, an esteemed label by Sony Music Entertainment. Following that, she launched her own website and started a mysterious countdown that ended at 8 AM KST on September 19.
With all this massive preparation, her first solo album is expected to be a surefire hit. Previously, she has acquired the trademark rights of the name Jennie Ruby Jane, hinting at using it for her solo music releases.
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