MEAWW.COM / ENTERTAINMENT / K-POP NEWS

Is Enhypen's Jake picking up girls in Itaewon? K-pop fans say 'it's a setup'

Some fans think it is a smear campaign and the rumors of Jake smoking and picking up girls are fake

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: With Itaewon clubs being known for partying and hooking up, a new rumor popped up that Enhypen’s Jake was seen in that area ‘hunting’ for girls. Right after Enhypen and fans had a good time at KCON LA 2022 with Jake also going viral for talking to fellow Australian idol Bang Chan of Stray Kids, a new account popped up on the same day. On August 22, the anonymous Twitter user shared three photos of two men standing next to girls. 

The OP (original poster) claimed that one of the men in the photos was Enhypen’s Jake in Itaewon and he was going around asking girls for a lighter for his cigarette as a pickup move. The user captioned the photos, “Jaeyoon-ah, you’re really hanging out around Itaewon and asking girls for cigarette light Please wake up.” The tweet was posted on the popular Korean gossip chat forum Pann with the title, “Just how can you be an idol in your right mind and ask for a cigarette light at Itaewon?” It quickly went viral among Knetz and even reached international Enhypen fans.

READ MORE

Enhypen fans educate Jake on fat-shaming, Engines hope Sunoo is OK after he misses fansign

‘Manifesto: Day 1’: Enhypen the fastest K-pop boy group to enter Billboard 200 top 10

Are idols’ ‘innocent’ image hurting them?

Several Knetz commented that they found it funny that the Enhypen star was using such an obvious move where he would need to take off his mask to show his face and pick up girls. However, others felt that their innocent image of Jake had been ruined. This also re-opened the discussion with users trying to reason that fans shouldn’t be so disillusioned as to drop an idol because they are not as innocent as they appear in public.

With several idols like NCT’s Jungwoo and BTS’ V being trolled for smoking, one user came up with a solution, “The issue is obviously not because [Jake’s] an adult smoking, but fans really should stop writing business posts about male idols having 'innocent' image. The same goes to NCT [Jungwoo], people were writing business posts about him and the moment his picture was out, he got so much hate. Just what are you guys thinking?”

Fans were also tired that idols were not allowed to do whatever they liked even though they are adults, “Its so sad that clubbing, dating or smoking is seen as a controversy in kpop.” Another had said, “It's only embarrassing because you guys are making big deal out of this.” One user tweeted, “It really looks like him.. its no big deal but i'm just shocked lol.”

‘A smear campaign’

However, some fans think that Jake is being set up and the photos are edited. One wrote, “Why are you treating like everything re this article is true? Do you think they’re d*mb enough to do this in Itaewon and with a manager no less? Think again.” Another added, “I don't stan enhypen but it's definitely a smear campaign, definitely no manager would let this guy be in a popular area asking random girls for a cigarette. plus the photo is weird.” Fans also pointed out that at the time the photo was taken, Jake had black and grey hair.

They also made threads to explain how it was edited, “Lastly, if my thread didn’t prove that it was a setup to you. Then let’s acknowledge that he is an adult, and smoking is not an illegal activity. However, smoking for idols is very frowned upon in Korea. Companies get paid to setup celebrities and defame them.” With another rumor cropping up that Jungwon used to smoke in school, one fan claimed to have spoken to OP who had said they wrote his name as a joke, “I DELETED THE REPLIES BECAUSE THE OP LITERALLY SAID THAT THEY WROTE JNGW0NS NAME AS "A JOKE" AND POST IT ON INSTAGRAM BUT SOMEBODY TOOK IT.” One added, “Jake has had enough false rumors about him these days, he even popped another one today, just leave him alone!”

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.