After Chaeyoung complained about fromis_9's lack of activities, HYBE and Pledis were massively criticized for "neglecting" the group.
On May 7, Lee Chaeyoung took to Weverse to express her frustrations over the group's lengthy hiatus and inactivity.
Following her live broadcast, Chaeyoung's remark went viral on various online communities, which sparked a controversy over the irresponsibility of their agency, HYBE and Pledis.
On X, flovers (fromis_9 fandom) held an online protest with the hashtags, "#fromis_9DeserveBetter" and "#PLEDIS_TREAT_FROMIS_BETTER," and tagged HYBE and its affiliate company, Pledis Entertainment.
Through X, they conveyed their plea to treat the girl group better and give them the platform, promotion, releases, and more activities that they deserve.
Reasons HYBE, Pledis Are Accused of Neglecting Girl Group
As the video containing the remark spread, netizens began pouring in both sad and angry reactions. The response was that they sympathized with the regret of fromis_9’s long hiatus.
The group has been completely inactive for nearly a year since the release of their first full-length album, "Unlock My World," released in June of last year.
The first full album wasn't even given by Pledis like a gift, as flovers and fromis_9 had to wait for a long time as well. The gap between the full studio release from the past album, "from our Memento Box," was also a year.
Aside from having no comeback, they also don't have that many international activities such as a Japan debut, no tour, no solo concert, or fan meeting, making it harder for them to expand in the global market.
ALSO READ: fromis_9 Chaeyoung Speaks Out on Group's Inactivity: 'It's So Sad...'
While fromis_9 is known in a lot of foreign countries, fans are complaining due to their lack of content, and if they have, subtitles are not of good quality, which is frustrating to those who want to stan them even more.
Fans showed concerns if fromis_9 would end up following in the footsteps of PRISTIN. While the girl group had so much potential to rise as a top-tier girl group, they disbanded just after 2 years and 2 months after their similar hiatus issue.
With this, flovers criticized Pledis for not giving fromis_9 the treatment that they deserved despite bringing them a large sum of money, especially in 2021.
HYBE also didn't avoid the rage of fans and was called out for completely ignoring fromis_9. Compared to the promotion it is giving to its other affiliate girl groups such as LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans and ILLIT, fromis_9 is not even mentioned by the multi-label regarding its plans for the group.
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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz