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Mnet's new and currently ongoing K-pop survival show, Boys Planet, which debuted on February 2, 2023, has been quite the talk of the town for various reasons. From familiar faces to commendable showcases of talent, the show has consistently garnered attention, naturally keeping even non-viewers engaged with its happenings. However, what intrigues most people is the pile-up of controversies surrounding its contestants.
Despite it not being long since the premiere of Boys Planet, there have been several instances where participants of the show have faced criticism for their controversial behavior.
Given that it's the first time a K-pop survival show has brought in trainees from around the world with no particular restrictions on age, experience, or background, the same has naturally caused a lot of tension among the contestants.
Top 5 controversies surrounding Boys Planet contestants
1) Sung Han Bin's interaction with a female influencer's Instagram post
The first on the list of Boys Planet controversies is Sung Han Bin being called out for liking a female influencer's Instagram pictures. However, his liking of her posts and knowing the influencer wasn't surprising since it was announced that the two were schoolmates.
What was considered problematic by fans was that the contestant allegedly only liking those images where the influencer showed some skin. However, since the two followed each other on Instagram and seemed pretty close, fans defended the trainee agains the unjust allegations.
2) Na Kamden being ignored by the Chinese trainees
Another one of Boys Planet's controversies rose due to the language barriers that many trainees faced, especially given the globalized participation of the show.
One such incident that angered many fans was during the G group's preparations. While the contestants were separated into groups for a battle round, Na Kamden was chosen as the leader of the G group due to his knowledge of Korean and English, as his group consisted of only Chinese trainees apart from him.
While Na Kamden tried his best to keep the conversation going in English to involve everyone in the discussion, the Chinese trainees ignored his efforts and continued to speak in Chinese amongst themselves. Na Kamden was naturally left out and even when he tried to point out the same, they only continued to dismiss him. Fans expressed their frustration over the issue, especially since all the Chinese trainees on Boys Planet knew a little bit of English.
3) Brian's family rules to not date Indians
This particular Boys Planet controversy didn't happen in the context of the survival show but occurred during contestant Brian's appearance on the show, Young and Restless - Vancouver.
When the Canadian trainee and his family appeared as guests on the show, their sharing of their House Rules became quite controversial. Brian wrote down a few rules he had on dating on the whiteboard and one phrase was unsettling for many fans. It read:
"Can't date Indians."
Brian explained that his parents weren't necessarily strict about who he dated and said that he had a Chinese-born girlfriend previously. Though it was his mom who reinforced the rule against dating Indians, Brian passively taking in the same was deemed both xenophobic and racist by many fans.
4) The resurfacing of Sung Han Bin's controversial topless photo
Another Sung Han Bin controversy was the resurfacing of a topless photo of the trainee with a group of women. Prior to participating in Boys Planet, Sung Han Bin was part of a dance group, and the photo was a crew picture as explained by his former dance teacher.
What felt problematic was that he was the only male in the group photo and all the crew members wore tank tops that revealed their necklines and shoulders.
While many fans were shocked by the picture, people also defended the trainee, saying that there was nothing particularly wrong or problematic with the photo, especially with the group's dance teacher explaining that the photo was taken that way to match a particular concept. All of this eventually caused the controversy to subside.
5) Zhang Shi Bo's rude behavior towards fellow contestant, Woonggi
The most recent controversy that took place on Boys Planet was between Zhang Shai Bo and Woonggi. The two trainees along with two other contestants were put into a group to prepare for a performance. They picked the song Feel Special by TWICE. However, given the difficulty of the song, they received many comments of dissatisfaction from the mentors.
Following the same, Zhang Shuai Bo, who seemed disinterested in rolling out a good performance, was seen to be turning the blame on Woonggi. The latter was the only Korean member in the group and the rest were Chinese.
Since Woonggi was in charge of the choreography, Zhang Shuai Bo was found gossiping to his fellow Chinese trainees that it was due to Woonggi's miscommunication that the group received negative criticism for their performance.
With Boys Planet only reaching half-way through its episodes, the number of controversies that both the show and its contestants face is quite a concerning problem among fans.
