Red Velvet’s Irene apologizes for ‘immature behavior’

Irene, member of South Korean girl group Red Velvet, has apologized for her “immature behavior” after a Korean fashion editor called out the singer on Instagram for “spewing insults” at her face during an “unpleasant encounter.” 

Irene took to Instagram on Thursday, October 22, saying she is “sincerely sorry for hurting the stylist with [her] foolish attitude and careless words and actions,” expressing regret for her behavior.

“I received a lot of help from people who gave their effort for me to get to where I am now, and I regret that I hurt them greatly with my immature behavior,” Irene said.

Irene also apologized to her fans, saying that she will be “more cautious about [her] actions in the future so that this does not happen again.”

“I am sincerely sorry to the fans who support me and to everyone who has been caused concern because of this,” she wrote. 

On Wednesday, October 21, stylist and photoshoot editor Kang Kook-hwa uploaded an Instagram post (which has since been switched to private) which recounted an unpleasant encounter with the K-pop artist. 

According to reports from AllKpop, Kang Kook-hwa explained that she had never experienced anything of the sort in her 15 years in the industry.

“I’ve experienced all sorts of people in this field for 15 years. I thought I had experienced everything in life and thought I had let everything go, but I was wrong,” she said. 

“This person skipped the greeting and sat right down as this person began spewing insults at my face with her cellphone pointed at me,” Kook-hwa wrote. 

Although no name was explicitly shared, speculations that it was Irene surfaced because of the editor’s use of “#psycho” and “#monster,” which are song titles that feature Irene.

In her post, the singer and Red Velvet leader admitted on Instagram that she was the idol referred to in the post. 

SM Entertainment, Red Velvet’s talent agency, also issued an official statement about the incident.

“Irene sincerely apologized for the deep hurt she caused to the stylist because of her carelessness and emotional behavior when she met with her this afternoon, and she’s sorry for causing concern to many people with her immature behavior,” SM Entertainment said. 

The agency acknowledged responsibility for her actions. “We’ll not forget the hard work of all the people and staff who collaborate with us and our artists, and we’ll try to prevent this from happening again to everyone who works with us,” said SM Entertainment. – with reports from Winona Castelo/Rappler.com

Winona Castelo is a Rappler intern.