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Bruno Mars’ Seoul, South Korea concert organiser Hyundai Card has denied allegations of gatekeeping tickets to his recent weekend shows by giving preferential treatment to Korean celebrities by gifting them special passes for the concert. Last weekend, on June 17 and 18, Mars hosted a two-day sold-out show in Seoul.
It was an important concert as the Uptown Funk singer was returning to Korea after nine years; and hence, he witnessed a star-studded attendance from almost all of the Korean entertainment industry, including BTS’ RM and Jungkook, BLACKPINK’s Jennie and Lisa, Park Seo-joon, and Park Hyung-sik, amongst others.
However, Korean netizens complained online that the best seats were allocated to K-pop stars, leaving the regular concert-goers with leftovers. Meanwhile, Hyundai Card has responded by clarifying that it did not gift tickets. Additionally, it stated that Korean celebrities who attended Mars' concert either received the tickets from the artist himself or purchased them through their respective agencies.
Furthermore, Hyundai Card assured angry fans that it will be contacting concertgoers who had been given seats with problematic seating and will issue a refund on their tickets. According to a quote given to the Korean media outlet Star News:
“We have not yet confirmed the exact number of invitations. From our understanding, celebrity management companies purchased tickets as a group. The remaining tickets were mostly sold through the ticketing system. We will contact customers with restricted view seats due to the stage setup directly and refund them.”
Bruno Mars’ June 17-18 concert in Seoul: Who were the K-celebrities in attendance?
American pop star Bruno Mars held two consecutive shows in Seoul, South Korea, on June 17 and 18 at the Jamsil Olympic Main Stadium as a part of Hyundai Card’s Super Concert series. Reportedly, the collective turnout was 101,000 people for both the days.
The much-awaited concert was sold out in 45 minutes for the first-day show and a record-breaking 25 minutes for day two. Additionally, Hyundai Card’s ticketing website recorded its highest number of simultaneous visitors in these two days.
According to social media, over 35 Korean celebrities attended Bruno Mars’ June 17 concert and more than 50 were present on June 18:
- BLACKPINK’s Lisa and Jennie
- BTS' Taehyung and RM
- EXO's D.O and Kai, TXT
- Red Velvet's Wendy, Yeri and Seulgi
- LE SSERAFIM
- BIGBANG's G-Dragon and Lee Soo-hyuk
- TREASURE
- IVE's Yujin
- The Boyz' Younghoon, Kevin, Jacob, Juyeon and Hyunjae
- Park Seojoon, Park Hyung-sik and Park Bogum
- GOT7's Youngjae and BamBam
- Chuu, Heejin, and Olivia Hye
- MONSTA X's Shownu, Hyungwon and I.M
- Lim Young Woong
- WJSN's Exy
- Pentagon's Kino
- Woodz
- Super Junior's Lee Donghae
- Day6's Young K and Sungjin
- Sunmi
- Jung Kyungho and Girls Generations' Sooyoung
- Park Hyoshin
- Jung Jessica, and Krystal
- Kim Woo-jin
- Song Hye-kyo
- Brave Girls' Eunji, Minyoung and Yuna
- Jessi
- B.I
- Sandra Park
- Hyolyn
- SEVENTEEN's Minghao, Mingyu, Dino, Hoshi, Woozy and Vernon
- NCT's Mark, Haechan, Renjun, Chenle, Taeyong, Taeil and Jungwoo
- SHINee's Taemin
- HIGHLIGHT's Gikwang and Yoseob.
However, regular Korean concert-goers have alleged that they were left with a sour taste in their mouth as K-pop stars took away the best seats with a very clear view of Bruno Mars on stage. The general audience was supposedly given seats with a wall view, totally blocking their vision.
Now, Hyundai Card has denied these accusations and alleged that K-pop stars purchased their own tickets or via their agency. Additionally, it assured fans with wall-view tickets that they will be issued a refund for the same.
After the controversy broke out, several Korean celebrities have also clarified their stance, stating that they indeed bought tickets through their own means.
BTS’ Jin’s older brother and GOT7’s Youngjae clarify their stance amid Bruno Mars’ Seoul concert controversy
Amidst Bruno Mars’ controversy gate, a couple of celebrities have come forward to reveal that they have not used their privilege in the wrong way and have indeed purchased tickets with their own money. GOT7’s Youngjae confirmed on DearU Bubble that he bought the concert ticket with his own money.
The Glory’s Song Hye-kyo too reportedly purchased six tickets in her name and was spotted at Bruno Mars’ concert with her cast mates from the drama Now, We are Breaking Up.
BTS’ Jin’s older brother Kim Seok-jung, who attended the concert with his wife, assured fans that he was not gifted the tickets nor did he use his famous brother’s connections. In a statement to the Korean media outlet Sports Chosun, Kim Seok-jung revealed:
"Contrary to speculation, the tickets were not acquired through any illegal means or obtained expediently. They were not invitation tickets purchased in advance from a specific company or organization."
More information on this matter is awaited currently.
