Fame might bring about devotion, money, and luxury, but not without a steep price to pay. BTS‘ frontman RM has learned that the hard way throughout the years but the last week has been particularly rough. Not only was the rapper accused of Islamophobia on Wednesday for sharing a Frank Ocean song with suggestive lyrics, but the unrelenting scrutiny has now also extended to his inner circle.
One of RM’s closest collaborators and industry friends, Korean songwriter John Eun, shared a series of alarming screenshots to his Instagram stories of vitriolic direct messages he’s been receiving for an undisclosed amount of time. The texts were filled with death threats, slurs, and offensive language as so-called fans accused the musician of piggy-backing off of the leader of BTS in order to obtain followers, fame, and money. Some also accused Eun of being in a romantic relationship with RM, repeatedly telling him to “stop obsessing” over the Grammy nominee and leave him alone. The irony.
Eun accompanied the images with a statement in which he urged the attackers to “stop,” saying that he felt sorry for them and what might have led them to act so violently.
“I don’t care what you think and it’s your freedom to think so; BUT [sic] when harassing one individuals [sic] and keep asking them to agree with you is a totally different thing, and I kind of feel almost sorry for them, thinking what made them think in such ways.”
These stories are not the first sign of tension between RM’s supposed fans — and we should use that term very loosely, as these are not fans at all — and Eun. For a while, the songwriter’s Instagram posts were spammed with comments referring to his and RM’s supposed relationship, leading to Eun turning them off.
On Monday, RM deleted some of his Instagram posts, some of which featured his friends, including Eun. Given the latest developments, fans are wondering if the two events may be connected.
“I know I’m not the only one who’s getting this kind of stuffs [sic],” Eun continued in his Instagram stories, adding that although the messages don’t affect him as much as they do other people, speaking out might help stop the harassment for everyone. “I don’t blame or hate any of the guys in the previous [messages],” he concluded. RM has not addressed the situation.