Orange Caramel Lizzy Faces Backlash for Allegedly Accusing WJSN CHOCOME of Plagiarism + Her Response
On Thursday, Orange Caramel Lizzy received negative feedback from fans and netizens following her recent and now-deleted story, which allegedly mocked and accused WJSN's sub-unit CHOCOME of plagiarizing their unit's MV concepts.
The whole issue started when the idol posted captured scenes from the freshly released track of WJSN's sub-unit CHOCOME titled, "Hmph!", a disco-pop song which aims to narrate the story of a person expressing her feelings to someone who can't get her hints.
Along with the photos, Lizzy wrote a caption saying, "I hope that WJSN can surpass Orange Caramel! #Hmph Fighting. But there are overlapping details with Orange Caramel's MV concept including "Aing," "Abing Abing," "Magic Girl," and "Catallena"."
In addition to this Lizzy also mentioned the members of Orange Caramel as a closing statement, and put "Raina, Nana, Lizzy jjang" at the bottom of her Instagram story.
It should be a sign of Lizzy's support to her junior idols, but netizens and fans noticed the caption of the senior idol which doesn't seem right for netizens and fans, particularly to the fandom of WJSN, Ujungs.
As soon as Lizzy's post circulated on various social media platforms as well as on Korean community sites, the idol was bashed and criticized.
Some of the comments say, "Her personality is showing, I don't think she has to be sarcastic in that way," "But does she own the concept? theirs was also an imitation from Japanese singers."
However, some fans of Orange Caramel, including Candies (their fandom) expressed that Lizzy doesn't deserve the hate as she was clearly just expressing her thoughts and it was also her personal account. As the idol continued to face bashers, she immediately deleted her story.
Amidst the controversy, a WJSN fan took the courage and politely approached Lizzy through Instagram's dm, discussing the issue.
The fan said, "I came with the thought that you might have been affected and hurt by the horrible comments as an aftermath of your story. I hope that you will straight out explain and resolve the negative thoughts that WJSN fans have involving your opinion about the group."
Lizzy then replied and explained that she has no negative sentiments regarding WJSN.
"They don't have any fault. I just happened to discover that there's a unit similar to Orange Caramel and I can't forget their Hmph hmph sound that I was reminded of with Orange Caramel's golden days."
She also expressed that she wrote the members' names beneath as she misses the members and it's like a habit of her to write something like that phrase.
"I didn't mean to mock them but it's true that I posted it without thinking much. Thank you for telling me and I'm sorry."
Furthermore, she indicated that she just wants to root for them as when she thinks of Orange Caramel being a successful unit, she wished that WJSN's CHOCOME could also reach more fans with the kind of music featuring an addicting and cute concept.
The criticism then lessened, seeing Lizzy's sincerity on her messages. Fans also thanked the Ujung who messaged Lizzy and for sharing their conversation to clarify the misleading captions and misunderstanding between the idol and the fandom.
