On December 27th, Super Junior's Heechul appeared as guest on the Youtube show "KebyKe Restaurant" where Kep1er members Chaehyun, Mashiro, and Xiaoting star in, together with comedian Lee Soo Ji.
During the episode, according to the video's official subtitles, Heechul asked, "Why do people (idols) get in trouble these days?" to which Chaehyun quickly answered with, "For not losing weight." Since then, their topic of discussion focused on what it means to be 'skinny' in the idol industry.
At some point, Chaehyun, who was once a trainee under SM Entertainment where Heechul belongs to, said, "I was really skinny when I was a trainee." Lee Soo Ji replied, "You are still skinny."
Heechul joined in, saying, "That's not true." He then explained, "I was an idol. She's very skinny, but when she's with other idols, she doesn't look skinny. And idols get criticized whether they gain or lose weight."
The Kep1er members nodded at Heechul's words, with Chaehyun saying, "That's true."
The scene instantly caught attention and was shared all over social media platform X, formerly Twitter. In particular, people expressed outrage over Heechul's comments, pointing out that he was bodyshaming Chaehyun with his statement.
Meanwhile, fans came to Heechul's defense, pointing out that Heechul's words were being taken out of context.
you mfs are going to hell for lying he did NOT bodyshame her https://t.co/skPaNsX9XF pic.twitter.com/PnIDn1LN8T
— aidey (@ultdonghaeee) December 27, 2023
the way y’all always share screenshots and not the actual video because then you won’t be able to create fake shit out of context to fill your agenda, for real piss off pic.twitter.com/I7ABR0DyR6 https://t.co/cGMnyBbfbA
— M. (@itsxelf_) December 27, 2023
Catch the full episode below: