4 K-pop idols who love Jay Park, despite his scandals, from BTS’ Suga and Aespa’s Ningning, to Ateez’ Mingi, who got backlash for joining Park’s Ganadara challenge
Jay Park is one of the K-pop industry’s most influential singers and savviest businessmen. He founded two record labels, Aomg and H1ghr Music, and recently started his own soju brand, Won Soju.
However, his life in the spotlight is far from unblemished. He was forced to leave his group 2PM because of leaked MySpace messages that criticised Korea and offended fans. He was even once slapped in the face by UFC fighter Brian Ortega, who got angry over his translation of comments from “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung-jung, who Park represented as part of his label.
As part of promotions for his new single Ganadara featuring IU, Park tapped stars like Jackson Wang and Ateez’ Mingi to do the Ganadara dance challenge with him. However, this was received negatively by netizens who claimed that Park “forced” idols to participate.
Park addressed this on Twitter by saying: “Whether people like it or not, I inspire a lot of their favourite idols. Just because they cheer me on does not mean you should take it out on them. If you’re a fan you shouldn't bully the person you’re a fan of. Think about how that makes them feel.”
So who are the idols who have been inspired by Jay Park?
5 things to know about Park Seo-joon, Marvel’s next Korean star
1. BTS’ Suga
Suga of BTS is often considered one of K-pop’s most talented rappers and producers. According to Soompi, while he has credited the likes of T.I. and Korean hip hop group Epik High as some of his musical influences growing up, he has also admitted to being a fan of Park.
In BTS Memories of 2014, a documentary following BTS’ activities in 2014, Suga was awestruck at the concert venue where BTS was expected to perform, as he had watched Park in concert there only two years prior.
“Jay Park had a concert here … Being in that hall, I’m impressed,” he said.
2. Aespa’s Ningning
She even sent him a short video message, saying: “I can copy your songs and dances. I’ll continue practising a lot. If we meet, I’ll show you.”
5 K-drama actresses who married ultra-rich husbands
3. Victon’s Seungwoo
In an interview with Esquire magazine in 2020, Seungwoo, lead rapper and lead vocalist of Victon, revealed that he considers Park as his role model in music.
“Jay Park is an artist I’ve liked for a long time. It’s not that I want to become a famous singer like Jay Park, but I want to be able to create things, one by one, using nothing but my own strength, just like Jay Park did.”
4. Ateez’ Mingi
Ateez’ Mingi has been a fan of Park since before he was an idol. As a contestant on the K-pop reality show Mixnine in 2017, Mingi revealed that he looks up to two K-pop veterans: Rain and Park. Mingi said he admires Park’s ability to have fun with music. The two finally met in 2022 to dance to Park’s song Ganadara together.
Inside Crash Landing on You co-stars Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin’s wedding joy
When the challenged received backlash, Park defended Mingi and assured fans on Twitter that he was doing well despite the negative attention: “Checked with little brother and he's good, so back to regular scheduled programming. Anyway who do you think my next reels partner is going to be?”
- Netizens claim Park ‘forced’ idols such as Jackson Wang and Ateez’ Mingi to do a challenge promoting his song Gandara featuring IU – but many K-pop stars are actually his fans
- This isn’t Park’s first controversy though: he was forced to leave boy band 2PM over leaked criticisms about Korea, and UFC fighter Brian Ortega once slapped him in the face