do you ever imagine how big Irene would be now if that stylist incident had never happened
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She only has herself to blame
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I think she most likely lost a lot of opportunities outside of kpop like the possibility of being a brand ambassador and transitioning into acting. Musically, I don't think it affected much because I don't think there was a soloist career for her.
Evidently I'm living in an alternate universe from the rest of you, one where Irene already has a succesful solo album and is still a brand ambassador.
Do I imagine how big she would have been? No, not really, because she realistically reached her peak of popularity as an idol already. She'll be 34 at the end of this month, and they're called "it girls" for a reason, not "it women." Her star would have started to fade by now anyway. Perhaps she could have transitioned into acting more, but her first movie didn't receive the greatest reviews. As long as she has a fandom supporting her music career for as long she chooses to continue pursuing it, I think that's all that really matters at this point.
Irene doesn't need to be Wonyoung in the 2020s. She was Wonyoung before Wonyoung was Wonyoung.
PS: It was a magazine editor, not a stylist.
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Evidently I'm living in an alternate universe from the rest of you, one where Irene already has a succesful solo album and is still a brand ambassador.
Do I imagine how big she would have been? No, not really, because she realistically reached her peak of popularity as an idol already. She'll be 34 at the end of this month, and they're called "it girls" for a reason, not "it women." Her star would have started to fade by now anyway. Perhaps she could have transitioned into acting more, but her first movie didn't receive the greatest reviews. As long as she has a fandom supporting her music career for as long she chooses to continue pursuing it, I think that's all that really matters at this point.
Irene doesn't need to be Wonyoung in the 2020s. She was Wonyoung before Wonyoung was Wonyoung.
Sorry I meant I don't think she would be a soloist that is constantly releasing music like a Tayeon. I enjoyed her solo album too and thought it was one of the best from last year.
I didn't know she's a brand ambassador but I assume she lost some major ones due to the scandal.
I think the major thing she lost was maybe top brands using her and possible acting career. Other than that I think it didn't affect her trajectory that much. This happened during pandemic and if she had something like acting lined up it still would have released. I think the only thing it affected is perception of her where people will use this as an example of her being cold, but other than that didn't lose much imo
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We'll see. Wendy & Seulgi already have a second album, so I wouldn't expect Irene to get left out of the rotation (especially with her outselling them.) There's also the unfortunate possibility of RV winding down from this point forward, which I think would only increase the probability of her releasing solo albums regularly.
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We'll see. Wendy & Seulgi already have a second album, so I wouldn't expect Irene to get left out of the rotation (especially with her outselling them.) There's also the unfortunate possibility of RV winding down from this point forward, which I think would only increase the probability of her releasing solo albums regularly.
There's a Seulgi and Irene comeback releasing this year. That should be very good because Monster was such a great album
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Red Velvet probably would have been more active
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ohh i see it but eh... she only did it to herself i think.
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I think her popularity was basically already declining before that tbh
Kinda this. I think her popularity was already on a decline before the scandal. Although she very likely lost some endorsements afterwards.
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As for 'could Irene's popularity have been bigger overall'?
Maybe. She was actually already very popular in SK for a few years, at her peak she was in the top popularity.
She might have been even more popular and an even higher 'It girl' level if she'd debuted earlier - not to forget, she debuted when she was already 23 years old. And she definitely does have the S tier visuals, even in her 30s she still looks iconic.
But I think her character prevented her from reaching that higher popularity level: she was an introvert, awkward (in the bad, non-charming way) and afraid for practically everything, and this was all noticeable in the early years of their debut.
Not sure what her experiences were in her teen years, but it made her closed off in many ways.
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she already reached her peak. She was the #1 gg member on the Gallup poll in 2017 and #2 in 2018 and 2019 (and #1 for those respective years changed both times, so on average Irene was the most popular). And in that time she was the absolute queen of ads and was basically inescapable. But in 2020 even before her scandal happened Jennie had definitely become the undisputed it-girl over her (and Nayeon). Probably she could have maintained her popularity a bit more but there was no stopping Wonyoung and Karina, they passed her/Jennie/Nayeon just like how Irene and then Jennie ended up passing Suzy.
Also her solo album sold 390k copies, like her solo career is objectively successful. There's even a chance she'll be more profitable than RV from here on out because I don't think her cbar is going to bother buying the group albums anymore and they were a big chunk of RV's sales. That may be why I&S is coming back again too (although I'm still very excited for that).
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the past cant be changed but the present Irene is having it really great, and I'm happy for her.
that album sales is truly a gift from her fans because she could've just called it quits but she stuck around as a RV member and faced all the criticisms for what she's done and truly reflected. Not only that, she worked on her own solo album and didn't give up. Her sincerity towards her fans was felt and she would've been very thankful towards her fans that stayed by her side and supported her till this day.
Irene is living the best possible outcome and she should be happy.
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