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'Irene's Work & Holiday': Is the Red Velvet idol being fake nice to hide staff bullying scandal?

Red Velvet's Irene had gotten into a bullying scandal in 2020 as a stylist had claimed the idol was rude to her

It looks like it will take a while before Red Velvet’s Irene can move on from her scandal where she allegedly bullied a staff member. Back in 2020, a stylist had gone public with the alleged mistreatment she had received from the Red Velvet star. Her label SM Entertainment was silent on the matter while Irene simply apologized. It was her fans who defended her and claimed that some of the allegations were exaggerated and that one incident wasn’t enough to judge Irene. However, this 2020 scandal has again come into the spotlight thanks to the new reality show ‘Irene’s Work & Holiday’.

Red Velvet fans were excited when it was announced that Irene would be getting her own reality show as they would get to go behind the scenes to see how the girls worked on their comeback together and spent their time when they were free. But since the whole concept of ‘Irene’s Work & Holiday’ is for viewers to get a glimpse of how the Red Velvet star works which also involves being close with the staff, Knetizens think that the show was created to do damage control. Their argument was further strengthened with the first episode showing Irene being nice to the staff.

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Irene called out for being allegedly fake with staff

Several Knetz made the first episode of ‘Irene’s Work & Holiday’ go viral as they felt Irene was being fake in the moments she was seen being nice to the staff. She had previously gone viral back to back for two staff incidents on July 31 and August 1. While Red Velvet was in London for a K-pop festival, the staff uploaded pictures of 100 pound notes that Irene had given to them as allowance. Fans had been impressed with her generosity. But the next day, when she returned to South Korea, she was criticized for letting the staff manage and push her luggage.

Fans called out the hypocrisy as the same Knetz had been worried for (G)I-DLE as they had no staff and were made to push trolleys full of suitcases on their own. They had shared that it was part of the staff’s job to help with the luggage. Reveluvs (Red Velvet’s fandom) are also sharing that there is no need for damage control as the group already had two comebacks after the 2020 scandal and it did not affect their reputation or success.

‘People so insecure’

In the first episode of ‘Irene’s Work & Holiday’, the Red Velvet star was seen chatting with the staff and asking if they had eaten while doing her makeup. Knetz felt that the banter was fake as it was not necessary to show such scenes in her vlog. They made comments like, “It's just funny because the intention of this program is way too transparent.” Another had joked, “SM' PR department is doing it all wrong, they should set up a stunt with Irene telling off some a-hole photographer or whatever and make people think 'wow she might be a b*tch but sometimes a b*tch is needed!' and restore her image like that instead of trying to make her nice and likeable.”

However, fans are defending Irene, “Calling it “damage control” is so stupid, because what is this doing nearly THREE YEARS later for her? Irene is still a stan attracter as shown by MIK festival and the groups best seller, let her be and have fun with her staff who happen to be her friends on and off cam.” Another shared, “Irene coming back stronger than ever is making people so insecure😭 meanwhile Irene's unbothered and continues to be a walking Santa Claus in the middle of the UK summer for her staff.”

One was not bothered by the hate, “Irene feels so nervous and her make up artist was cheering her up. ‘It's alright~ Our Bae Juhyun can do it!’ Her relationship with the staff is so pure.” Another Reveluv posted, “Irene’s so powerful she got her fans and people who claim they hate her to tune in to Irene’s Work and Holiday at 6pm kst on thurs to watch her watch my octopus teacher on a plane to indonesia.” One commented, “The downside of irene's not having that much of celebrity friends or not interacting that much with her idol peers... her being best of friends with her staffs, pds/team, stylists etc is labeled as fake and performative.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.