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After the fiasco involving NCT Lucas and his ex-girlfriend erupted a while ago, SM Entertainment seems to be taking serious measures in order to lessen the blowback. However, the move has evidently backfired.
Fans took to social media to lambast the popular South Korean-origin entertainment agency after it released a new line of merchandise for their boy group that excluded Lucas, with no accompanying explanation.
Fans concerned about Lucas' future in NCT after noticing his absence
On 16 October 2021, a picture circulated on social media showing NCT's new line of merchandise. Specifically, it highlighted a set of stickers featuring all of the group members' names. However, fans quickly noticed that Lucas was completely missing from the merchandise, and his name had not been included.
The move was not taken lightly by NCTzens (fans of NCT) and fans of Lucas. They immediately called out SM Entertainment for excluding him from the merchandise and rallied support in order to protect the member. Many are sending hopeful messages to the idol, hoping that he is still in the group.
With Lucas' prolonged hiatus and the lack of response from SM Entertainment, many are beginning to suspect that the K-pop idol has been removed from the group.
Earlier this year, in August, NCT and WayV Lucas faced a series of accusations involving multiple girls who had supposedly dated or had intimate relations with the K-pop idol.
While many attempted to disprove the statements that were made against him, SM Entertainment eventually withdrew Lucas from promotions and the singer himself wrote an apology letter stating that he would be repenting for his "past mistakes."
Many were left unsatisfied by the lack of explanation from SM Entertainment's side. The company was accused of not defending the idol and leaving him to fend for himself with regards to the backlash he was receiving. On the other hand, many called for his removal from NCT and WayV altogether.
SM has currently not made any official response to the vitriol they have received with regards to their merchandising decision.
