We reported about the uproar by Korean Wonderfuls over the photos showing Sohee and Yubin of the Wonder Girls signing on a fan's sneaker placed on a table yesterday. Judging from the majority of comments left in that article, most of you felt that it was a cultural misunderstanding and that the Korean Wonderfuls were just overreacting to the incident.
More details have been revealed about what happened during this fan signing event which took place in August after the girls had performed at the Jonas Brothers concert in Florida, America.
The photos shown above reveal Yubin and Sohee reaching over the table to sign the sneaker of a white woman. Even though there were autograph papers provided, the woman had placed her sneaker onto the table for the Wonder Girls' to sign. Nothing wrong with that, you might say, since it may be normal custom in America.
However, according to one eyewitness, this particular woman was accompanied by two others. When it was their turn to get autographs, this woman rudely placed her leg onto the table for Yubin and Sohee to autograph. She later laughed after getting her sneaker autographed before leaving. According to the eyewitness who was behind them, "Even in America, it's still rude to place your dirty worn sneaker onto the table and ask for it to be autographed. The Wonder Girls did not say anything and just signed their autographs. But it did not look nice. No wonder the Korean Wonderfuls are irate since they are a hugely popular group in Korea."
With regards to this, a representative from JYP Entertainment said, "Looking at the photos, this seemed to have been taken at a fan signing event on 17th August and was organized by 93.3 FLZ radio station. But from our memory, it wasn't quite rude like what the eyewitness had said and didn't make the Wonder Girls uncomfortable or anything. We hope that the Wonder Girls will not be affected by this report."
Meanwhile, the Wonder Girls are currently in New York, preparing for their official American debut with the release of their first English album in October. They have just finished performing for the Jonas Brothers concert tour.
Credits:Allkpop
Hm..well it is common for artist to autograph on sneakers in america.If the reports of the fan is rude then i think anyone would be offended even if they are from america.
i too believe that it is rude to put your stinky feet up on the table for wondergirls to sign =/ i mean, not all americans are rude okay? you don't see the others doing stupid things like that. Wondergirls really shouldn't have signed it =(!!!!!
AMERICANS or other non-Asians can say "It's alright. We do it all the time." Really? I'd like to see Americans do that to Beyonce! RUDE!
Hmm...I don't know. If I had to lift my leg on to a table for someone to sign my sneaker, it might take a lot of force to do it. Remember, maintaining balance on one leg might be easy for ballerinas, but not for everyone.
This is America were talking about, we (Americans) tend to do silly things when it comes to close encounters with the celebrity kind. At least the girl didn't have the nerve to tell them to sign her breasts.
Oh and just to set the record straight, Anonymous---Beyonce doesn't even sign autographs. Or at least she didn't during the 2006-2007 period. Fans painted canvases of her and she just walked by them as if they didn't even exist. On top of that she's a copycat thief with a falling star anyway so, provide another example please.
@Anonymous above me, I think that person who used Beyonce as an example is just trying to make a point? Don't take it literally. What he/she meant is will Americans do that to their own stars? Probably yes, but Asian and Western culture are different. We (Asians) think that it's disrespectful especially when the fan could have just removed the shoe first.
Not to mention that the shoe is dirty. It's just culture clash.
Wonderfuls should not believe so much of what the writer of the article has written. Their agenda is questionable, creating mischiefs in the guise of news, splitting the fans apart in the guise of protecting the honour of the girls by cleverly exploiting very debatable differences. Well done anti, you've managed to do grave damages to 2pm and now trying it on the Wonder Girls.
Yubin and Sohee signed it, whether it is rude or not netizens/kwonderfuls can't do anything about it...
I know that the girls knew something like this (not the exact incident but the fact that there were lots of people that they won't please) would happen..They already accepted and prepared for it, i guess...
i'm a wonder girls fan, but i wasn't offended by it...Yubin and Sohee already signed the shoe, if the girl did that to humiliate them then it's not Yubin and Sohee's problem to bare because they have already shown some courtesy...
i think they just magnified this issue, and it's not good for the girls...Haters and racist will just use this and maybe provoke the fans more by doing rude things... just like what anti's in korea usually do...
it may be rude or not but if you are an artist you dont really have a choice but to sign autographs/ take pictures with the fans whatever the condition is... if the girls didnt sign the sneaks... then again their would be an issue that they are snobs... and we dont want that...