In an online community, people are speculating about the status of the friendship of former IZ*ONE Jang Wonyoung and Sakura following THIS clip.
In response, DIVEs and FEARNOTs defended the idols.
Did Jang Wonyoung Ignore Sakura? 'Awkward' Interaction Between Idols Draws Attention
On December 19, a post in an online community featuring Jang Wonyoung and Sakura went viral.
This is after people speculated about the status of the friendship between the two former IZ*ONE members.
In the post, titled "Sakura's greetings were ignored," a GIF was attached showing how the now LE SSERAFIM member attempted to say "Hello" to IVE Jang Wonyoung but was "unapologetically" ignored.
Despite this, the OP lauded Sakura's personality, saying:
"I think Sakura's personality is really good, trying to say hello first."
ALSO READ: LE SSERAFIM Sakura's Gaze For IVE Jang Wonyoung Draws Attention– Here's Why
As soon as the post was uploaded, it amassed about 97.6k views with 230 upvotes.
Jang Wonyoung once again received criticism for her attitude.
- "Jang Wonyoung, why are you like that?"
- "I felt secondhand embarrassment."
- "But Jang Wonyoung don't look close to the IZ*ONE members. An Yujin is on the same team (IVE), but Yujin looks close to the (IZ*ONE) members."
Amid criticisms, DIVEs (IVE fandom) defended Jang Wonyoung and stated that the GIF was maliciously edited.
Based on the longer version of the clip, the "ELEVEN" singer supposedly tried to reach out to Sakura first by extending her hand. At that time, the latter wasn't looking, leading her to slowly change the direction of her hand to aespa Karina.
When Sakura finally saw her, it was Jang who was not looking anymore since, according to DIVEs, Wonyoung was looking for her co-IVE.
- "Jang Wonyoung just reached out to Sakura first, but at that time, Sakura couldn't see her, so she naturally lowered her hand. Then Jang Wonyoung said hello to Karina and looked for IVE members. Sakura clapped while looking at Jang Wonyoung, but it was embarrassing because she didn't see her."
- "Why is Jang Wonyoung the bad one here? They both didn't see each other. It's just a matter of bad timing. How dare you assume that they have a bad relationship? Don't you have friends?"
Jang Wonyoung & Sakura 'Beef'? Fans Refute Claim
With this, there are speculations that the two idols are not on good terms.
People also brought up the incident where Jang Wonyoung "pushed" Sakura to be at the center during a press and fans greeting, which happened when they were still actively promoting as IZ*ONE, a project girl group launched by Mnet in 2019.
But WIZ*ONEs, IZ*ONE fandom, refuted this claim repeatedly, citing events where the two popular idols showed affection to each other.
In October, LE SSERAFIM went to "Music Bank" as a performing artist, the program where Jang Wonyoung was the MC. Fans emphasized Sakura's loving gaze while their maknae did her MCing job.
In the recent AAA ceremony, Jang and Sakura were also photographed holding hands while smiling and greeting each other.
READ MORE: IVE Jang Wonyoung Draws Mixed Reactions For Not Bowing To Others– Why Is It Big Deal?
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Written by Eunice Dawson.
