This is not me but reddit post
Many people were agree on the post
Why do i feel like people, especially reveluvs, being frustrated of a ot5 red velvet comeback drought underestimates and being a little out of context on irene's controversy in korea and how it was received?
I think that a major factor up until now on why red velvet's anticipated ot5 cb keeps on getting delayed or just sm being hesistant to give the green light is the irene's controversy.
Disclaimer #1, this is not a rant and iam not mad at reveluvs being vocal on wanting an ot5 cb, this is just a thought on why an ot5 cb is harder to materialize as reveluvs and kpop fans in genetal, especially the international side make it seems to be. I am not korean and not in korea, but i think you dont need to be a korean fan to know that power abuse is one of the hottest issue in korea and koreans are tired of it. Also, the reception of irene's scandal is clear as a fishbowl: koreans dont like it and are mad about it.
Disclaimer #2: This is NO way another witch hunt on irene. The focus on my post is about the aftermath of the scandal and its potential reception and its potential consequences. There is no more point in going back and analyzing what happen. All is already done and cant be taken back anymore. There is no point already to either justify or defend irene or to condemn and criticize her actions.
Now, i think fans are basing this issue based on irene's hiatus and the two long apologies she posted afterwards and assuming that all is in the past already and just basing it on how reveluvs accepted her apology, but i think we still dont know how the korean public and non fans feel about this until we see it.
Girlgroups also tend to rely more on the general public unlike bgs who can live without it and just have a big fandom so i understand why SM is being extra cautious about it.
Also not being pessimistic, but a hiatus is not always a guaranteed way to have a controversy be buried in the past. Controversies are not created equal. Some controversies can be saved by hiatuses, some are not. On irene's case, we still dont know. And thats why i think SM is being extra careful.
Irene's movie only pushed through because everything is already set and there is no turning back. The production costs cant be wasted and many actors are already involved. Even after the controversy, irene is still by far the most popular member and her still being inactive even after the "end of her hiatus" like what reveluvs seems to think just shows how SM is being very cautious in every move they do with rv ot5 activities.
Edit: a point that i forgot. There is also a possiblity that this is a way to just simply shield the girls. Not just irene, but the other members as well that arent even involved in the mess in the first place. You have the other members flourishing individually like joy's acting and OSTs, yeri's variety potential and drama, wendy's starting solo career. A prematured ot5 cb is like leaving the girls in a cage of tigers. Because we all know how k-netz and the gen public can be so brutal and the lengths they can go, specially how koreans are so disgusted with the power abuse issue in their country and how they are tired of it.
