Members of the K-pop group ILLIT are under scrutiny after their X (formerly Twitter) account followed and then quickly unfollowed several fan accounts.
On May 20, 2024, a post titled “The account that ILLIT’s members’ accounts followed by accident then unfollowed” surfaced on the popular South Korean online community forum, TheQoo. The post highlighted tweets from an international fan who claimed that ILLIT’s verified X account, which the members use to share selfies and personal updates, had followed her.
Excited, the fan shared a heartfelt message to ILLIT, expressing unwavering support for the members—Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee, and Iroha—praising their beauty, talent, humor, and kindness.
However, backlash ensued when it was discovered that this fan had previously accused another popular girl group, NewJeans, of plagiarism.
In response to the criticism, the fan made her X account private. Further revelations showed that ILLIT had also followed two other fan accounts, one for Moka, managed by a Korean fan, and another dedicated to Yunah, reportedly based in Japan. These accounts were also quickly unfollowed by ILLIT.
Korean netizens were swift to react, criticizing the members for being “shady.” They pointed out that the following accounts had made negative comments about NewJeans, suggesting that ILLIT members might be endorsing these controversial opinions.
Given that the members are believed to have direct access to the verified account, fans argued that this behavior reflects poorly on them.
As of now, BELIFT Lab, ILLIT’s managing agency, has not issued any statement regarding the incident. The lack of response has only fueled further speculation and criticism from the online community.
