“Most toxic, delusional, and obsessed”: ENHYPEN’s Korean fans protest against female dancers in Bite Me choreography, international fans criticize

Protest trucks sent to BELIFT LAB by Korean fans of ENHYPEN led to a major conflict between them and the group's international fans. On May 24, 2023, pictures of protests demanding the removal of female dancers from title track Bite Me's choreography spread on Twitter. Bite Me is a song from the group’s latest comeback, their fourth mini album DARK BLOOD.

As Bite Me is the title track, the septet has performed it at their comeback showcase and will be performing it during various other promotional activities. The choreography for Bite Me has become a topic of discussion ever since its teaser was released, as the fandom loved that the singers were paired with female dancers.

However, some Korean fans seemed to be heavily against it. They targeted BELIFT LAB and insulted its position as one of the sub labels of HYBE and demanded that the female dancers be removed from the choreography.

ENHYPEN’s international fans criticize Korean fans for sending protest truck demanding removal of female dancers

ENHYPEN recently went viral on the internet, as per their fans, for breaking the fourth-generation K-pop barrier by dancing with female partners. The septet bowled fans over with the choreography and music of their latest title track, Bite Me, from their fourth mini album DARK BLOOD. Many fans even claimed that the septet seems to have revived second-generation K-pop music.

Amid the majority of positive responses and support for their couple dance, it appears that several fans in South Korea were against the idea of ENHYPEN dancing with women for their choreo. While clips of the group’s performance during their comeback showcases went viral on the internet, on May 24, however, photos of protest trucks sent by some Korean fans also spread on Twitter.

The fans protested for removing the female dancers and only having the seven members dance on stage. One of the banners on the protest trucks read (as translated via Koreaboo):

International fans instantly criticized the Korean fans’ demand and their use of protest trucks for the same. They trended #SupportBiteMeDancers and #WeLoveBiteMeChoreography to extend their support to the female dancers. Take a look at how they defended the criticisms thrown at the Bite Me choreography below:

Meanwhile, ENHYPEN made an impressive achievement with DARK BLOOD. The septet broke their personal first-day sales record by surpassing one million sales. As per Hanteo Chart, the group recorded 1,108,337 sales for DARK BLOOD, which was a significant growth over their previous record of 768,603 first-day sales for MANIFESTO: DAY 1.

About the author

Afreen has been a K-Pop Content Specialist at Sportskeeda since 2021. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, along with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication. Afreen has over 4+ years of working in various positions including being an entertainment content writer with Pinkvilla’s K-pop division Hallyutalk and CineDope, and as a copywriter at Flying Cursor.

As per Afreen, she loves her work because she gets to write about the things she is obsessed with. Her thorough research and following the two-genuine-source rule of journalism helps her produce the most accurate content, along with helping her be up-to-date with the industry.

Afreen has had the privilege to interview The Rose's frontrunner, WOOSUNG, and LIONESSES, K-pop's first openly LGBTQ+ group. She is a big fan of SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, BTS, and The Rose for their hard work, sincerity, and the comic relief their shows provide.

When she is off her shift, Afreen explores the streets of Nottingham in the UK, cooks, and listens to new music.

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