G.O.D Member Danny Ahn Accused By Angry Netizens for Relying on Fans for Expensive Gifts
Uh-oh! Looks like another celebrity is in hot water for a SNS (social networking site/application) post.
In the age of the internet, online communication or messages often lack verbal and audio cues present in everyday face-to-face interactions, often yielding disastrous PR results for celebrities and preventable misunderstandings between even good friends. Knowing how to properly interpret or compose a text message, tweet or blog post has become a critical social skill set for our generation in particular.
It all began on September 29, when the g.o.d member turned actor Danny Ahn expressed his fanboy longing to own a LG Twins Baseball Club jacket with the a post saying, “I wish I could have it…” Then on October 9, Danny updated fans with a post that read, “I finally got it. The baseball jacket. A fan went through the trouble of getting it and gave it to me as a gift! Now all that’s left to do is to get the playoff tickets.” Unfortunately, the last sentence was interpreted by netizens as an indirect request to his fans to get him more stuff.
Then on the day of the playoffs on October 16, Danny Ahn uploaded photos from the playoffs where the LG Twins played the Doosan Bears. He also included photos of the tickets, but no mention of how he obtained them further fueled the anger of netizens who began to suspect that a fan had given them to him once again.
Netizens furiously speculated, “Are those tickets from a fan too?”, “Is this how you ask fans for gifts?” and “I think he’s trying to ask the fans to get him another gift,” while others defended the celebrity saying, “I don’t think that’s what he was trying to say in his posts”, “He’s just acknowledging the fan that bought the jacket for him”, “I think everyone is over-interpreting it” and “What if he’s just an LG fan?”
Danny Ahn has since deleted the posts after receiving angry reactions from netizens, but many took screenshots and have shared them across various online forums.
Danny Ahn’s agency responded to the issue through TV Report on October 20 saying, “Danny Ahn hasn’t had the opportunity to address this issue or share his side of the story yet because he is in the countryside filming right now. He never intended to ask fans for gifts and simply uploaded those posts with a sincere heart. Danny Ahn has always been an LG Twins fan. Since it was difficult for him to get a hold of a LG Twins Baseball Club jacket, he expressed it online since they were starting their season this fall.”
On the issue some had taken with Danny Ahn deleting his previous posts, his agency said, “He was taken by surprise and embarrassed by the negative reaction to the posts, so he decided to take them down. Once he wraps up filming, we plan to discuss the issue further with him.”