Following his recent airport appearance, TREASURE Haruto sparked discussion after netizens mentioned his weight gain.

In response, his fans jumped to his defense.

TREASURE Haruto Criticized After Apparent Weight Gain in Recent Airport Photos

Earlier on September 1, TREASURE (Hyun Suk, Jihoon, Yoshi, Junkyu, Jaehyuk, Asahi, Doyoung, Haruto, Jeongwoo, and Junghwan) departed from Korea through Incheon International Airport in Unseo-dong, Jung-gu, Incheon.

The 10-member boy group left for Fukuoka, Japan to attend their 2023 TREASURE FAN MEETING~HELO AGAIN~ through passenger terminal 1.

(Photo : TREASURE (Newsen))

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Prior to their flight, numerous reporters and fan sites saw the "JIKJIN" singers off and held a mini photo-op with the K-pop idols.

Immediately after, their images were shared by the media, which were also spread among online communities and SNS.

Seeing their photos, netizens and fans, especially TEUMEs (fandom), couldn't help but admire the exceptional beauty and visuals of the octet. However, one member became the center of criticism, and it was none other than Haruto.

The reason? It was due to his alleged weight gain!

(Photo : Haruto (StarNews))

(Photo : TREASURE Haruto (Newsen))

In his journalist and fan-taken photos, it was noticeable how Haruto accumulated double chin and neck fats. 

His photos were flooded with negative comments criticizing him for not maintaining his weight. They also questioned his visuals due to the drastic change.

• "Is this real?"
• "He used to be so fxcking handsome when he debuted, aren't fans sad that he gained so much weight lately?
• "He's an idol? Stop lying. This is straight up Defcon.".
• "Seriously, Haruto doesn't look so healthy. Isn't it because he gained weight? Even when he didn't gain weight yet, he looks swollen."

(Photo : TREASURE Haruto (Newsen))

Some of the comments also talked about the double standards where only women were required to maintain weight, using Haruto as the example.

• "Compared to his debut and now, he gained weight, right? If he was a female idol, he would have gotten so much hate, right?"
• "IVE Liz and TWICE Jeongyeon lost weight for a few months, but they're in the first team, and TREASURE is... TREASURE."
• "When you're skinny, I'm confident you are TREASURE's visuals. So Haruto, take care of yourself."

TEUMEs Defend TREASURE Haruto From Weight Gain Allegations

(Photo : Haruto (Kpop Wiki))

(Photo : TREASURE (Nate Pann))

Although fans are super supportive of Haruto's body changes regardless of his weight as long as he's healthy, TEUMEs are frustrated that the OP who first emphasized it used the idol's photos to start a maliciously written topic.

The fandom highlighted that the photos that sparked the weight gain claims were taken badly, and compared to his other photos at the airport and during the fan meeting, Haruto looked okay.

Some fans also claimed that he could have had a swollen face during their departure, which made him look like he had weight gain.

(Photo : TREASURE Haruto (Newsen))

• "It's just because of the hair and the damn glasses. It doesn't look bad in the video, don't worry."
• "He had gained weight compared to his looks a few months ago, but there are only two pictures that came out like that because of the angle and the prescription glasses."
• "If you look at the fan meeting video posted on Twitter, it's not like that... Why is that picture like that?"

(Photo : TREASURE Haruto (Newsen))

• "He gained some weight, but if you look at his whole body, he's tall and handsome, so it's nothing to blame. Tall people were usually handsome boys when they were young, and later, they grow up together, so they often change their faces, Haruto is good, but he can lose weight."
• "I think it's like that because of the glasses."
• "Isn't he just swollen because it's morning? And the angle of the photo is uhm..."

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Written by Eunice Dawson.