MEAWW.COM / ENTERTAINMENT / MUSIC

Stray Kids fans accused of spreading ‘hate’ against ATEEZ amid Mnet's ‘Kingdom’ battle but here's the real story

The email does not specifically mention Stray Kids fans but ATEEZ fans have taken several Stray Kids fans' tweets as instances of slander and hate

A bizarre trend for Stray Kids fans — 'Stays going to jail' — has surfaced online after ATEEZ fans aka Atinys released an email layout that threatens to sue Stray Kids fandom for spreading 'hate'. If social media users are to be believed, they have been accused of starting a malicious campaign against KQ Entertainment K-pop boy group ATEEZ. The long email alleges that ATEEZ has been targeted with constant hate, death threats, ableist remarks and many other forms of slander and defamation.

The battle between fans broke out after rumors surfaced that an unnamed group has received special treatment from Mnet's much-coveted reality show 'Kingdom.' Stray Kids fans assumed it was ATEEZ. For the unversed, Stray Kids are competing against ATEEZ in Mnet's Kingdom where the former has won the preliminary round and ATEEZ has been announced as the winner for the first round 'To The World.' 

RELATED ARTICLES

'Kingdom: Re-born' Episode 4 Full Tracklist: Stray Kids to ATEEZ and The Boyz to iKon, here are all the performances

'Kingdom': Mnet dubbed 'unfair' over big budget for just one K-pop group as channel cancels elimination on show

During the broadcast of Kingdom's first round, a Korean media article claimed that CJ Enm — a South Korean Entertainment company — is helping an unnamed group to win. Later, more clarifications were released to debunk the rumors of favoritism but according to the email layout, fans continued to slam ATEEZ and spread malicious words against various members. These claims, however, are unproven and mere accusations from one group to another.

Stays vs Atinys

Stray Kids and ATEEZ are undeniably the two most powerful contenders of 'Kingdom' as it is apparent with the show progressing toward the end of second-round 'Re-born'. With a fan war between the two most powerful K-pop acts of 'Kingdom', social media is eagerly waiting for what's coming next. 

Though the email does not specifically mention Stray Kids fans, Ateez fans have taken several Stray Kids fans' tweets as instances of slander and hate against the K-pop group in the mass email. The email says, "Aside from these accusations and the spreading of false information, several other users on Twitter are mocking Mingi’s anxiety and wishing death upon him and the other ATEEZ members." Check the email document here. 

How #StaysGoingToJailParty began

Stray Kids fans aka Stays started trending the hashtag #StaysGoingToJail after ATEEZ fans released the mass email campaign and a flood of memes along with the hashtag. One user wrote, "Bold of yall to think that putting all of us together in the same place is gonna solve your problem!" Another shared a clip of how Stray Kids will come to the rescue if Stays go to jail writing, "Skz pretending to be guards so they can get stays out #staysgoingtojailparty!"

A fan slammed the fandom saying, "#staysgoingtojailparty are y'all aware the doc that ur laughing over has disgusting vile tweets, r@pe, dts and ableist 'jokes' or u just rushing to make jokes and get a usual hit tweet out of the situation?? FUCKING READ IT nothings funny this isn't some fanwar."

Stray Kids fans have also started reporting some of the accounts that have been tweeting problematic things in the name of the group and spreading hate. A user wrote, "tw// ableism, s**cide hello!! not trying to be rude but since some misinformation seems to be being spread by stays, these are the sort of tweets we are reporting!! we’re not just reporting for no reason so please don’t worry hope that clears things up."

Another account claimed, "For the record nah those don’t represent actual Stays. Actual Stays would never wtf!"

'Kingdom: Legendary War' will return on Thursday, April 29 at 7.50 pm KST. Catch the last episode here.

Catch Ateez and Stray Kids' latest stage performance here.