MY FINAL POST ABOUT THIS SUBJECT
// Iβm sorry, but. The people who are putting THIS much effort into protesting and boycotting when if Heeseung had never left they wouldβve been dead silent.
(Others have noticed that the ENGENEs mostly pushing hard for the boycott are all teenagers or in their very early twenties and, likeβ¦ yeah itβs easy to boycott when youβre spending your allowance or birthday money per album and have no clue how the music industry works.)
What seriously irritates me is the framing of this as a boycott for moral reform when nah, yβall didnβt start protesting like THIS until after Heeseung left + this is so not how the company is going to take it.
(Also, be so serious, yβall CANNOT be going on about how ENHA are overworked and clearly exhausted and then in the same sentence say how much you want Heeseung back in that position. Just so you can have your OT7 lineup again. Which is it? Either you want him to have more creative control and a less demanding schedule, or you donβt.)
Another thing: The disrespect to bring the OT6 vs OT7 spam wars into the membersβ Weverse livesβJayβs birthday live, no lessβand the audacity of some to boycott everything ENHYPEN related (including the membersβ birthdays) is completely bonkers to me.
Jungwon had to address this during his live for people to βstop with the number gamesβ and that his space was only for ENGENEs. (Therefore, the members donβt consider those spamming OT6 vs OT7 & about Heeseung/protests/boycotts to be true ENGENE.)
Jay had to take time out of his birthday live to call yβall out on your shitβand you know he was seriously pissed because he did so in English and his scary calm voice.
Sunghoon and Sunoo have also addressed the fact that ENHYPEN is continuing with the lineup of six members after Heeseungβs departure. Thatβs four members right there telling people to stop. All six have said they want ENGENE to continue loving and supporting them.
Jake commented in an interview after the first three days of Blood Saga tour that as much as they appreciate ENGENE being concerned for their health, this is their job, they chose this career, and they love what they do.
Iβm (not) sorry but at this point it just looks like yβall are throwing a tantrum because Heeseung made a business decision you do not like.
The decision was already made and final when it was announced Heeseung was going solo while remaining under Be:Lift. That alone says a lot that the company reworked his contract to let him remain with them to pursue a solo careerβthis is not done in K-pop. Soloists who also have group activities usually go with a sister company (or another company altogether) for their solo work. Protesting is not going to get him back. Boycotting is only going to hurt both ENHYPEN and EVAN/Heeseung as a soloist.
Not to mention: the fact that those of us who want to support ENHYPEN as 6 + Heeseung as a soloist have been called βnot true ENGENEsβ is insane to me. Like??? Iβm not the one out here throwing a hissy fit because a member left the group, cyber-bullying the ENHYPEN members, harassing other fans, and fighting tooth and nail to get him back when itβs already clear heβs not returning and has already launched his soloist rebrand.
Stop spreading misinformation and hysteria while claiming to love and wanting to "protect" your idol. This helps nobody.
"But Heeseung was forced to leave!" As I've stated before: We do not know that. We are not Heeseung, the members, or Be:Lift management. It's been clear since late December / early January that ENHYPEN were in contract renewal discussions, so this must have been in the works for a while. With the Blood Saga tour taking place for over a year (2026 - 2027), during the time their contract would be up, it's clear now that this was the most optimal time for Heeseung to get out of that demanding schedule while having time to work on his solo albumβ something he's been working on since 2024. A solo album debut does not happen overnight, and frankly, Heeseung looks much more relaxed and happier.
We have the official statements from both Be:Lift and Heeseung himself, that this was the best decision for everyone involved. He had a say in the decision for him leave the group in order to go solo while remaining under the same company. Deal with it.
For the rest of this, I am going to put my German-American bluntness on full blast, look you dead in the eyes, and hold your hands firmly when I say it.
"But Heeseung's letter was AI!" That's been debunked. Y'all will truly take gut feelings and Tarot readings over reality.
"A staff member saw Heeseung crashing out in the hallway!" This is the Internet, where anybody can pretend to be whoever they want and claim whatever they want. There are zero (0) photos or videos circulating online to back this claim up.
"ENHYPEN miss him and want him back!" I'm sure they miss him; it's been 6 years as ENHA and they've known him personally for longer than that. There's always an adjustment period whenever a member leaves a K-pop group, and this is their first world tour with a 6-member lineup. However, they are not sending y'all secret signals to keep protesting or to discreetly say they want their hyung back in the group by whatever means necessary. At this point, anyone saying this sounds completely parasocial, and having lost the plot entirely. Truly hobbyless behavior. BTW, it's also completely normal for the members to get emotional and cry during a concert. Not everything has to be tied back to Heeseung, good grief.
"They're trying to erase Heeseung with the new fanchant!" That's what happens to every single K-pop group when a member leaves: the fanchant is edited to fit the remaining members. This is not new to ENHYPEN and Heeseung leaving. Tell me this is your first time having a member leave a group without telling me. It's also normal for the members to guide the new fanchant themselves, as it's an adjustment period for them, too. Heeseung's going to have his own fanchant for his solo career + his various songs.
"But HYBE's stocks dropped! The boycott is working!" In case you all hadn't noticed, there are three highly unpopular wars going on in the world right now, the most recent of which having started within the past month (+ heightened tensions between certain Asian countries). That is obviously going to affect stock all across the entertainment industry worldwide, not just HYBE and Be:Lift. People are dying en masse and y'all are more concerned about a K-pop idol leaving his group. Get some perspective.
"But the pepper spray attack by OT6 fans on OT7 fans!" I'll take βThings That Never Happenedβ for 500, Alex.
Jungwon told ENGENEs not to push during Blood Saga or he wouldn't go over to where they were. Jay has noticed ENGENE fainting in the crowd before. ENHYPEN have had to go backstage on previous tours because fans were not respecting their requests to behave. Artists notice things that go on in the audience when they're onstage. You're seriously trying to tell me that a weapon such as pepper spray (which wouldn't make it past security, by the way) would be deployed and ENHA + their security wouldn't notice a thing? Come on. Be for real. If that had actually happened, it would have been shut down, those responsible taken in, and ENHA would have said something. As it is, there is, again, zero footage of this supposed attack circulating online that isn't AI-generated / otherwise faked, just text claims that people are taking and running with as fact.
Stop spreading misinformation.
(And some of y'all are way too fucking casual about death threats, threating to commit crimes, and violence, heilige ScheiΓe.)
Get outside. Touch grass.
If you're not going to support ENHYPEN as 6 members and Heeseung in his solo career as EVAN, then at this point you should probably leave the fandom. Efforts to bring him back to the group have, by now, done far more harm than good and spiraled completely out of control.
This isn't activism. This is not a boycott centered around the members' welfare. This is parasocial entitlement taken way too far and dressed up as activism so y'all can have the moral high ground.
And I, for one, am sick and fucking tired of it and not being able to look up ENHYPEN content without being spammed. Get an actual hobby that sparks joy.