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iKON talk about B.I's exit and Bobby's marriage, fans hope to 'heal and move on'

While B.I aka Kim Hanbin is a successful soloist now, in 2019 he had to leave iKON when rumors of drug abuse cropped up against him

The last few years have been hard for iKON and their fans after the group’s former leader B.I aka Kim Hanbin was embroiled in a drug scandal in 2019. While he was cleared and is now flourishing as a soloist, we had the remaining fans then sending hate to Bobby after he revealed that he had a girlfriend who was pregnant and they were getting married. If that wasn’t enough, fans were frustrated that YG was not capitalizing on iKON’s sudden popularity on ‘Kingdom’ and letting them have a comeback.

Well, the boy group is finally back with the mini-album ‘Flashback’ and is doing the rounds on talk shows. On May 28, we got a sneak-peek of their next variety show as iKON is set to be guests on Channel A’s ‘Golden Clinic’. Viewers were shocked by their bold move as the teaser revealed that iKON will be talking about B.I’s exit, what they went through in 2019 along with Bobby’s marriage and the negative response to it.

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iKON talk about B.I’s exit

K-pop agencies school their artists not to talk about former group members and scandals even if it is cleared out of fear of getting dropped by the general public and toxic fans. This is evident in the way Monsta X and former member Wonho walk on eggshells, BTOB’s silence on Ilhoon while (G)I-DLE cannot mention the injustice done to Soojin whose case is still unresolved. Similarly, iKON and B.I have been avoiding each other since the latter re-debuted as a soloist. We’ve also had several fans hating on Bobby for silently supporting B.I on social media.

However, in the upcoming episode of ‘Golden Clinic’, DK decided to talk about B.I’s absence, “Even the act of going outside made me feel guilty and apologetic.” Junhoe was heard saying, “We promoted actively for 8 years as a team, but in the end, all I was left with was a feeling of emptiness.” At the same time, there was a clip of Bobby bringing up his marriage while seemingly wiping tears. He says, “The idea of a couple getting pregnant before marriage is not quite exemplary behavior.”

‘I am glad YG is letting them speak’

Fans were heartbroken seeing Bobby one of the strongest members tearing up with the YouTube comment section being filled with supportive messages. One fan was glad they were allowed to talk about it, “I am glad YG is letting them speak about these things because idol groups don't talk about something this serious. This will set a good precedent for future idol groups as well to talk about real human issues instead of always covering up and acting like everything is alright. iKON is one of most unluckiest groups out there. They had a lot of ups and downs in their career and their history is really heartbreaking.”

Another fan tweeted, “After hanbin left... we were active for 8 yrs together... it felt empty. - koo junhoe now i miss my junbin.” One added, “Both iKON and Hanbin opening up at the same time can't be a coincidence. Considering the effect their words can have on either side, I think they may have agreed that it's time to tell their stories so that both them and the fandom can heal and move on.”

One fan stated, “Please unfollow me if you are an iKONIC who hates Hanbin, and unfollow me if you are an ID who hates iKON. Just tell me, then i will unfollow you too. I am IDKONIC who supports iKON and Hanbin wholeheartedly.” Another added, “Bobby don't even need to talk about his marriage cuz we would still love him no matter what but yet he still does 😭😭 im so proud of you jiwon.” One fan warned, “Ik we all have worries abt this show esp. how it will affect Hanbin but please trust iKON. Bobby esp. stood up for him, they would never talk ill abt him. but if the editing do them dirty, let's all burn YGE.”

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