On June 10, Soribada irks fans and netizens, particularly EXO-Ls, after finding out that the K-pop group EXO, did not make it to the final list for Bonsang nominees on the upcoming Soribada Best K-Music Awards Ceremony that is organized and celebrated annually since 2017.
The final list of Soribada's Bonsang nominees includes Super Junior, Taeyeon, Baekhyun, Red Velvet, NCT 127, BTS, TXT, IU, Twice, GOT7, Winner, Seventeen, Zico, FTIsland, Monsta X, NUEST, AOA, Apink, April, (G)IDLE, Mamamoo, Momoland, OMG, Astro, AB6IX, WJSN, Kang Daniel, Seongwoo, Park Jihoon, CIX, Victon, etc.
In the list, it is noticeable that some of the largest K-pop groups, including EXO, ITZY, IZ*ONE, and StrayKids, are not nominated, though. Due to this, EXO-Ls, who can't accept the result which for them is extremely infuriating, demanded the Soribada event organizers to give their stand why EXO is not included in the list.
Shortly after, Soribada then gave its explanation and reasons to the fans and netizens of the K-pop group, but instead of consoling fans and making them accept the decision, EXO-Ls went crazy even more due to organizers "ridiculous" reason.
Through an email, Soribada then addresses the inquiries why EXO was not nominated, and according to them, "Hello. This is Soribada. We have chosen our nominees based on our internal standards, along with our regulations. As for EXO, they had an issue with a member's withdrawal from the group during our selection for nominees' process [August 1, 2019-April 30, 2020]." Thus, due to this, EXO was unfortunately excluded from the list.
However, EXO-Ls are not buying it, as there are many flaws to the organizers' reason. First, no member withdraw from EXO during the selection process. Kris, Tao, and Luhan left several years ago, so they are definitely not the reason.
Also, despite Lay's absence in EXO's promotion in Korea, he [and the members] often reminds EXO-ls how he is still part of the group, through broadcast and social media, and as for Chen, though antis demanded him to leave the group following his marriage announcement; SM Entertainment clearly confirmed that there would be no changes in the lineup of EXO. Furthermore, Xiumin, D.O., and Suho are currently serving in the military, but they are still part of EXO. With this, fans and supporters are mass tweetings that "EXO is Nine."
Second, a member's withdrawal doesn't have any connection with the event's criteria, which includes internal data, online voting, and rating for music professionals.
Lastly, fans are thinking that Soribada still has a bitter relationship with the group and fandom, after what happened in 2018 in the awards ceremony as well, wherein despite meeting the criteria, EXO didn't win, causing fans to warn them that EXO-Ls will be taking legal actions.
Meanwhile, EXO-Ls are doing their best way to have a clarification with Soribada for them to give the recognition EXO deserves. Currently, the hashtags, #소리바다_해명해 (soribada clarify) #소리바다_루머유포_금지 (soribada don't spread rumors) #탈퇴_이슈는_없다 (there is no withdrawal issue) is trending on Twitter real-time searches.
