Page 1 of Wish Upon a K-Star

K-Pop Fan Attic article: “Netizens React as an Alleged Case of a Celebrity’s Trainee Bullying Is Brought into Light”

Netizens are abuzz about an anonymous post claiming that a big rookie celebrity (Celebrity A) may have bullied another (Celebrity B) during their trainee years!

Neither celebrity was named, but there’s speculation that Celebrity A may be the rookie actress Shin Hyeri, who has been getting more attention for her audience-pleasing supporting role in one of the hottest K-dramas of the year, Youthful Exchange . If Celebrity A is Shin Hyeri, many are guessing that Celebrity B would be Kim Ana, who has been the nation’s princess ever since she won first place in the wildly popular audition program Citizen Producer , the show that gave both Shin Hyeri and Kim Ana their start when they were chosen as two of the nine girls to debut as Helloglow under CDB Entertainment Group (the media company that produced Citizen Producer for HBS). The girl group released multiple hits, earning them many rookie-of-the-year awards—until their unfortunate early disbandment due to a voting scandal that hit HBS almost a year after Helloglow’s debut.

Though Shin Hyeri finished in third place in CiPro , many allege that said voting scandal means she should never have debuted in Helloglow and that manipulation of the votes was specifically for her benefit. Even her casting in CiPro seemed to be a publicity stunt as she is the younger sister of Hyejun from the popular boy group AX1S (who are currently promoting their comeback single, which hit #1 on the Oricon, Melon, and Circle charts). This is one of many alleged scandals attached to Shin Hyeri in her short career, leading to netizens branding her as the “scandal princess.”

The now-viral post claims that Celebrity A broke into Celebrity B’s phone and texted a boy trainee inappropriate pictures from her photo roll.

But the reason many believe Celebrity A to be Shin Hyeri specifically is because of the allegations accusing Celebrity A of hiding Celebrity B’s costume before an evaluation. Fans might remember that during one of the evaluations on CiPro , Kim Ana was late, claiming it was due to a lost costume. Though Shin Hyeri disputed it, many fans did blame her for hiding the costume, as she was roommates with Kim Ana at the time.

Though Shin Hyeri has found some success in her re-debut as an actress. These allegations of bullying could have a ripple effect as Korea takes bullying accusations seriously. Many celebrities have taken forced breaks after such allegations, with some even made to retire from the entertainment industry entirely. Netizens have started tagging Shin Hyeri’s agency in criticisms against the rookie actress.

Meanwhile, Shin Hyeri is scheduled to be the cohost of the midsummer K-pop festival with fan favorite Moonster of the mega boy-group WDB.

WDB has had their share of scandals recently with the dating reveal of leader JD, as well as his injury during tour leading to his current break from all scheduled activities. Plus, maknae Robbie being spotted in public with his rumored non-celebrity girlfriend.

Whether these rumors about Shin Hyeri are true, netizens are already very curious to see what happens during the live-cast of the midsummer festival.