Worst Scandals Surrounding Twice 2023 | Cultural Appropriation, Breakups, And Other Controversies
Check out the worst scandals surrounding Twice that had shocked fans and media alike. Some of these controversies involve problematic behavior like cultural appropriation while others are mostly innocent things blown out of proportion.
Where there’s fame, there’s scandal.
The Kpop group Twice hit peak popularity in 2015, when they debuted with their extended play The Story Begins.
Created by JYP Entertainment, this girl group was formed as a part of the reality show called “Sixteen” where the nine members Sana, Jihyon, Momo, Dahyun, Tzuyu and Chaeyoung were chosen by an audience poll.
Related: Who Are Members Of Twice
Related: All 9 Twice Members Without Makeup
The beginning of Twice itself was controversial as Tzuyu was selected as leader of the group as she was the most popular performer with the audience.
However, J.Y. Park, the founder of JYP Entertainment added Momo to the group as he wanted someone with her dancing skills. This decision didn’t sit well with many of the audience.
And since then, Twice has been the center of many controversies and scandals. Some of them are, undoubtedly due to mistakes made by the members, but others are simply trifles blown out of proportion by the media.
Worst Scandals Surrounding Twice
Twice has been plagued by scandals ever since their inception in 2015. Even now, fans of Twice are in a tizzy if their favorite girl group will be disbanding this year as their contracts with JYP ends.
So let’s take a trip down memory lane and check out some controversies in which this group was embroiled.
Nayeon Using Soundcloud Like A Thrifty Queen
Do celebs pirate stuff? Apparently yes, if you are Nayeon. This Twice member got caught in hot controversy when she uploaded a story to her Instagram where she praised Girl’s Generation’s Taeyong’s song “Secret”.
The catch? Eagle-eyed fans noticed she was streaming the song on SoundCloud.
Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with Soundcloud it’s an app for sharing original music content and trademarked music like Taeyong’s song cannot be uploaded and shared as it will be free and you will not have paid for it.
People soon criticized Nayeon for pirating music this way and she issued an apology as well, but it’s nice to see celebrities are thrifty too!
The Unfair Reaction To Tzuyu’s Flag Waving
As you all know a lot of the Twice members are not Korean and belong to different nationalities. So during a television show in 2015 called the “My Little Television” program Twice held up flags of their own countries in addition to South Korea’s.
Tzuyu, a Taiwanese-resident raised the flag of an independent Taiwan instead of using the Republic of China flag.
A lot of Chinese nationalists criticized the action strongly. One Taiwanese-Chinese singer Huang An went as far as to accuse her of being a political activist for an independent Taiwan.
Soon China pulled Twice’s music and anything related from the media and Tzuyu was forced to apologize.
This criticism was so strong that JYP head JY Park had to issue a formal apology himself.
So why do I think the criticism was unfair? Well for one Tzuyu was only 16 years old at the time and was treated rather harshly for a very small mistake.
A Fan Got Mina In Trouble – The Rising Sun Hat Incident
Here’s another case of flags and symbols on teen pop stars causing political unrest.
At a fan signing event in 2016, an ONCE (that’s what fans of Twice call themselves) handed Mina a hat, and she gladly put it on.
However, what she didn’t notice was that the hat contained a symbol of the rising sun which represents Japanese nationalism.
This is problematic in Korea as due to the long, complicated history between the two countries.
And while Mina’s manager made her take off the hat as soon as he spotted the symbol, the damage was done.
The fan also apologized to Mina on Twitter stating that he only wanted to give her a hat containing the photo of Mount Fuji and that he didn’t see the rising sun symbol either.
JYP Entertainment didn’t formally issue an apology as they did with Tzuyu, because after all it was only an accident on Mina (and the fans) part. However, now every fansign event has strict checkings on fan merchandise and gifts.
Scary Fans Part I – Mina Gets A Death Threat
Some fans get obsessed with their idol. And while this kind of parasocial relationship is unhealthy, sometimes things get ugly.
In 2017, a photo started circulating online which showed Mina and Got7’s BamBam together. This led to a mini-frenzy of its own as fans speculated they were dating.
And one Mina stan got so upset they posted a picture of themselves holding a knife to their wrist and threatening to kill Mina if she didn’t “slap her boyfriend and rip his mouth”.
Scary Fans Part II – Korean Fan Threatens TWICE
As seen above, sometimes, fans can take entitlement to new levels.
During a Japanese concert of Twice’s, a photo was taken of a long queue of Japanese fans waiting outside to buy tickets.
This triggered some Korean fans who accused Twice of abandoning their country and only playing for Japan as they earned better money from there.
One such unhinged stan posted a comment on the likes of how they would be waiting with 10 liters of hydrochloric acid at the airport if Twice ever came back to Korea again.
Jihyo’s Unfortunate Fashion Choices
Jihyo was called out by a lot of international fans due to her wearing a costume resembling a Native American headdress at Twice’s 2018 Halloween concert.
She was accused of cultural appropriation but ONCE soon defended her attire saying she wasn’t appropriating Native American clothes but was dressed as a fictional character, namely Princess Mononoke.
Sana’s Instagram Post Triggers People
Sana’s Instagram post seems to trigger another political controversy, this time upsetting right-wing nationalists in South Korea.
In a now-deleted Instagram post she congratulated Japan on the ending of their Hesei era. And while this might be innocuous enough, the post can be seen as inappropriate considering Japan’s feud with South Korea during WWII.
People Do Not Approve Jihyo and Momo’s Choice of Boyfriends
People date, whether they are famous or not. But some fans do not seem to understand this and take the fact that their “oppa” is with another girl very personally.
It caused a furore when Mina’s photos alongside Bambam appeared and later people took offense to Jihyo dating Kang Daniel.
Things were more understandable with Momo as Kim Heechul, her ex-boyfriend, was almost 13 years her senior.
A “Controversy” That Should Have Been Taken “Lightly”
In March 2021, a couple of photos appeared online that showed Twice’s Jeongyeon had gained weight.
The bullying she received online was very unnecessary as she had just received psychological treatment and was back from a hiatus.
FAQs about The Kpop Group Twice
Does Jihyo have a scandal?
Yes, unfortunately Jihyo was seen wearing a Native American costume during a concert by Twice for Halloween 2018. However, she defended herself against the allegations by saying that her costume wasn’t supposed to be a “Native Person” but she was actually cosplaying the Ghibli character Princess Mononoke.
When did Jihyo leave twice?
When did Jihyo leave twice?
Jihyo has not left Twice yet. All the original members of Twice are still in the band. However, the Kpop group’s contract with JYP Entertainment has expired. So fans are unsure if all of the members will renew their contract or will some, including Jihyo, choose to go their separate ways.
Why did Jihyo and KD break up?
While no one obviously can know the real reason why Kang Daniel and Jihyo broke up, their official statement was that the pair was “too busy for love”. So we can conclude that it was their busy and mismatched schedules that caused their breakups.
Who is Momo’s ex boyfriend?
Momo Hirai from Twice was dating Kim Heechul, an actor and Kpop rockstar from the group Super Junior. However, they broke up in July 2021 citing busy schedules.
What is Momo and Heechul’s age gap?
Kim Heechul was born in 1983 and Momo in 1996 which means this ex-couple has an age gap of around 13 years. It initially started a lot of chatter among fans and industry executives but ultimately it all died down as age gap relationships (among older men and younger women) aren’t seen as taboo in South Korea. However the couple broke up in 2021, ending all gossip.
Final Thoughts on The Scandals Surrounding Twice
Twice has been embroiled in so many controversies over the years.
But some of these so-called scandals seem to be a media frenzy created by certain sections or due to other people’s bad reactions to Twice.
Yes, things like Jihyo’s cultural appropriation scandal can be shocking. But remember that things in South Korea are not like the US. And she was only cosplaying Princess Monoke.
Other, more disturbing scandals, like the death threats the girls seem to get or the outrage poured at them while they were teenagers for silly mistakes, seem to be indicative of our collective misogyny towards famous women.
This year, when Twice’s contract with JYP finally expires, fans are waiting with bated breath to know whether they will be renewing their contracts or will they be disbanding?
Stay tuned, because you know I’ll be there to cover it!
Also Read:
Worst Scandals Surrounding BTS
English 
Japanese