2nd gen fans: What was Jessica’s departure from SNSD like?

i know it was a huge mess

The biggest mess, probably the most controversial girl group departure ever.

People questioned if SNSD would be able to remain at the top, the fandom was split over team OT8 or team Jessica (they still are to this day), even non-fans were shocked.

I remember there were pictures of Jessica exiting SM building crying, that reaaally made things a big mess

It was the most dramatic month ever like SNSD was the group everybody thought they will e 9 forever so it was a huge shock

Sm as always...

they normally end in bad terms with their artist

omg 9/30 still gives me trauma, it was so shocking like no one expected it so you can imagine the chaos

everyone talked about it for weeks, people split into ot8 vs Golden Stars( Jessica fans), pics of Jessi crying, OT8 performing during their fanmeet in china while looking devastated, Tokyo dome 2015

I was a new fan to kpop as a whole it and it was a goddamn mess. I loved it bc I thought kpop was gonna be as dramatic and messy as american pop culture

I was sorely disappointed though

A huge mess. It was one of the biggest idol events in K-pop.

The initial news was of course extremely shocking. It came out of the blue. However some insiders hinted that Jessica was possibly going to leave eventually and a couple greatly implied it was due to marriage (now those insiders are treated as a joke). Regardless if you believe she was leaving later the manner it was announced was unbelievable.

Then came the blame game. Ot8 fans v Jessica fans v antis. EVERYONE put the blame on one another with barely any evidence or hastily put together conspiracy theories: Taeyeon was the evil mastermind, Jessica hated it all and wanted out for a while, the others hated her so they convinced SM to kick her, SM wanted her business to themselves, Jessica did something really bad and so on. The only real constant was Jessica's business somehow conflicted with SM and SNSD, even that piece of info is incomplete because we don’t know about the circumstances of the discourse. Other than that nothing was ever confirmed or had any sufficient evidence.

To this very day no one, and I mean no one, knows anything about the situation outside the girls and SM. It’s all rumours and gossip. We may never know until all of them have complete quit the industry in case they're under NDAs or whatever.

Quote from aespa-von

What i heard from my sister is that ot9 renewed but jessica was apparently kicked out. Some sasaengs apparently know it was gonna happen(?) and im so confused why sm is salty enough to soft ban her on TV

Yes it is true. Literally that year all 9 of them extended their contracts, only for Jessica to announce her departure a few months later. Many people had no clue why, we still don't. Many people theorized all 8 members voted to kick her out because she was focusing more on fashion than the team. I personally think it isn't as dramatic as SONEs made it out to be. There was probably some tension in the group between her and most of the other members. She thought she could continue with SNSD but her mental health wasn't there, she wanted to focus on herself, and she felt the team and the company couldn't support her anymore, so she left. Though it was a difficult decision she probably felt guilty about.

The real reason she left is probably a lot more boring than we all think.

Like the Ragnarok of kpop

It was a mess.

this glorious photo started circulating taken back in april i think

and it started some more drama after Jessica's post on weibo.

This iconic airport photo from that day

The fandom was split in half. golden stars were spreading rumors, while ot8 fans started spreading around more false rumors. It was nasty.

Taengsic rumors started up again.

Taeyeon was the mean bih that kicked Jessica out. I shortly left the fandom after that lmao.

Surreal. I remember the news breaking and immediately just discounting it as twitter making up shit. Then Jessica herself posted, and it was just weird af. Even through all the scandals, SM has never felt like they had so little control over their image as they did at that time. Jessica getting in first and driving the narrative instead of reacting to it is still one of the most boss things she's ever done.

I was taking a break from kpop but got so into these fake edits of soshi bullying her

Almost made me hate Tiff but today I don't care. I follow youtuber jessica and stay happy

A whole fckn mess since it literally came out of nowhere. SNSD were EXTREMELY popular and everybody thought OT9 would last forever. Nobody knew wtf was going on. There were so many crazy theories going around. There was a picture of Jessica leaving SM crying but people were saying it came months earlier? People were saying Taeyeon was the mastermind and were analysing her instagram for shade. All sort of crazy stories were circling like how she was supposed to be in TTS but Taeyeon didn't want her so SM put Tiffany instead. Or that, the girls hated her because she brought a lot of drama within the group and stole Yuri's man or something idk lmaoo.

Mostly, it was said that she left because she was getting married or wanted to focus on her business The SNSD girls showed up at an event after this and they were all crying

One thing's for sure, netizens DRAGGED her. She got SO MUCH HATE for leaving the group, for caring only about her business and relationship, being a 'traitor', etc.

TLDR; a big fucking mess

I remember it. It was pretty funny to me. I remember some sones had to call in sick to school/work because they got so sad lol. I've always been a blackjack anyway

It was a huge blow. Nobody was expecting those news and it left a lot of questions that remain unanswered to this day.

For what has been said, it seems Jessica was planning on leaving SNSD before her contract ended. She was planning to leave by the end of 2014 as she was planning to become a businesswoman with her fashion brand. Apparently, it was taking too much of her time away from the group, who was working their asses off to prepare for their "The Best" concert in Tokyo Dome in Deccember that year. Apparently, SNSD had a say in her removal but we can only made this up from Jessica's post following her removal.

It is said their first post-Jessica single "Catch me if you can" was Jessica's goodbye single, there are even OT9 versions in the web.

The details as to how things really went down are lost in Gossiptown as no one really knows. Whether to blame SM or the girls is another point since none of them has ever said anything about it, only Jessica. Some solely blame Taeyeon for her removal.

The fandom remains split to this day. SNSD lost fans after that day and there are people who don't acknowledge SNSD as an 8-member group to this day. Some will bring Jessica under every SNSD post too.

The anniversary of her departure is next week. It will be seven years, almost the same time she was in SNSD.

Personally, I think nobody is fully at fault here.

Blackjacks mocking Sones during this era

*Meanwhile 2NE1 never made a comeback again*

Quote from Hopkinz

Blackjacks mocking Sones during this era

*Meanwhile 2NE1 never made a comeback again*

That's another story that breaks me down every time.

The amount of theories and rumors about this is legendary. Like ultimate fanfictions about this, whether it be Tokyo Dome being her last concert or the others voting her out, that have been just accepted as true is amazing.

She had her company, they didn't like that, she got kicked out and lost a lot because of it. The only question is whether she deserved it like sones think or it a rushed decision like Golden Stars think.

I was a sone for a long time and Jessica always gonna be my ult. The only reason 930 still matters to her fans is because of the hate, likewise with sones

Quote from silver25

I remember it. It was pretty funny to me. I remember some sones had to call in sick to school/work because they got so sad lol. I've always been a blackjack anyway

Blackjacks had it worse. YG dealt poorly with Boom's scandal and disbanded the girls the minute he had a chance.

Quote from soshilovelife

Blackjacks had it worse. YG dealt poorly with Boom's scandal and disbanded the girls the minute he had a chance.

I know. But i've never cared about SNSD much, so the jessica scandal didn't bother me. it was just funny seeing some fans overreact.

Quote from Golden_Wishes

The amount of theories and rumors about this is legendary. Like ultimate fanfictions about this, whether it be Tokyo Dome being her last concert or the others voting her out, that have been just accepted as true is amazing.

She had her company, they didn't like that, she got kicked out and lost a lot because of it. The only question is whether she deserved it like sones think or it a rushed decision like Golden Stars think.

I was a sone for a long time and Jessica always gonna be my ult. The only reason 930 still matters to her fans is because of the hate, likewise with sones

She has made sure to do something on that date too, or at least she did in the first few years following her removal.

Quote from Hopkinz

Blackjacks mocking Sones during this era

*Meanwhile 2NE1 never made a comeback again*

For the culture:

EUDIvv6XQAAkIyZ.jpg

Quote from silver25

I know. But i've never cared about SNSD much, so the jessica scandal didn't bother me. it was just funny seeing some fans overreact.

Ok

Quote from alexS

I'll just recount what I felt that day as a Sone.

We kinda expected it.

We had a few bird app threads talking about how her and the company are not good.

But rumours at that time. (Imagine the bird app at the time, it was like 3 tweets)

Then we get hit with a big tweet then the whole shebang.

Shell shocked should describe it best.

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I didnt know some fans saw it coming (I didnt even had bird app back then).

It was earth shattering to me.

Quote from soshilovelife

That's another story that breaks me down every time.

*Me who was a sone and a blackjack*

Having the worst of both worlds 2014 was not my year (although I did like a bunch of music that year)

Quote from silver25

I remember it. It was pretty funny to me. I remember some sones had to call in sick to school/work because they got so sad lol. I've always been a blackjack anyway

A bit ironic considering Bom gets into a huge scandal, Cl gets cockblocked in America, Minzy leaves and soon 2ne1 fully disbands.

Quote from soshilovelife

I didnt know some fans saw it coming (I didnt even had brid app back then).

It was earth shattering to me.

There was chatter that she was going to leave, but they were...well, rumors so many people didn't pay it too much attention. So when it actually happened people were like

It wasn't good as I remember. There was a lot of bad feeling and blaming going on. Jessica was my bias at the time and I could never forgive Girls Generation ever again after that. I felt she was better off out on her own anyway.

Quote from Golden_Wishes

For the culture:

EUDIvv6XQAAkIyZ.jpg

PLEASE THIS CLAPBACK BELONGS IN A MUSEUM

Quote from soshilovelife

She has made sure to do something on that date too, or at least she did in the first few years following her removal.

I can't help if people find it shady but I do think on some level she does want to take the sting of the day out for her fans, and not all of it can be taken as jabs. It used to be this weird day of mourning, now we get stuff out of it.

I'd rather associate Shine and the vinyl album with 930.

If only I could associate an album with it too

Another thing people don't remember is that even non-Kpop fans listened to SNSD or at least heard of them. So this was such a big deal it went beyond our little Kpop community at the time.

A huge mess, nobody would expect that, and we didn't get proper explanations

I was/am a Sone and my fave was Jessica, so I suffered a lot

Quote from Golden_Wishes

I can't help if people find it shady but I do think on some level she does want to take the sting of the day out for her fans, and not all of it can be taken as jabs. It used to be this weird day of mourning, now we get stuff out of it.

I'd rather associate Shine and the vinyl album with 930.

If only I could associate an album with it too

idk Shine isn't really something I'd like to associate with anything