CHAPTER 315: BOYCOTT POP STAR ACADEMY (1)

The video leaks started out slowly.

First, it was a post titled "The" from a newly created account with the username "disgruntledEmployee00". In the post was a link to WeTube video that was over 20 hours long.

Since most Pop Star Academy fans were watching the live performances, only a few people clicked the link, and when they saw the video’s length, many didn’t bother watching.

The general consensus was that someone would probably watch the video and clip what needed to be clipped, and that the clip would then be shared across all platforms.

Then, out of nowhere, the post was taken down.

A few seconds later, another post titled ’The Truth’ was posted by disgruntledEmployee01 with the same link.

Like earlier, a few people clicked the link, but when confronted with an extra-long video, sighed and let it play in the background.

A couple of minutes later, the original post was deleted by the community moderator.

This cat-and-mouse-like game continued until the post was now titled ’The Truth About Field Day, PD Ji-ho’ posted by disgruntledEmployee06.

Additionally, instead of just the link like in the previous posts, there was now a short 30-second snippet included.

Curious about what was happening, people clicked into the video and watched the 30-second clip of William smashing the ball at Suzuki Rei before Areum yelled at him to stop.

└ Did you guys see the clip? Is it real?

└└ It was probably an edit by Ari’s Angels. They still refuse to believe that he’s guilty of being a terrible person.

└└└ If it’s fake, why did they take the post down? They left all the other slander posts about Ari up. This is unfair treatment!

└└└└ sybau! Nobody cares about that violent plastic surgery thug of yours.

As the argument that had happened so many times reoccurred, the post was taken down once more.

But for viewers like Grace, who had the WeTube link saved to watch later, reopened it, put the watch speed on 2x, and began watching it even as another post appeared on the Pop Star Academy community page with a different clip, this time of William hitting the ball at Ari’s leg.

Shocked at what she was seeing, Grace immediately fast-forwarded the video, which seemed to be all of the field day footage combined into one long video.

She scrolled until she got to the tennis portion and watched as William not only repeatedly aimed for contestants’ faces and bodies with a tennis ball, but he also rudely disrespected Areum, who kept calling him out.

Shocked at the footage, Grace watched with one eye even while checking the Pop Star Academy community and Twitter, where posts were popping up faster than she could refresh.

Clicking several that had hundreds of comments already, Grace began to read them.

[Pop Star Academy Needs to Be Held Accountable.]

[I’ll say it right away, yes I am an Ari’s angel. Ever since the episode dropped, I’ve been arguing and defending him while saying that the video cuts were weird and that he wouldn’t act like that without a reason. And now I’m being proven correctly. Despite being the instigator who violently injured other contestants, made mocking comments toward them, disrespected an idol who rightfully called him out for his trashy behavior, and made a bet he didn’t honor, the production team decided to paint William as the victim in this situation and villainize Ari.

Due to their actions, Ari has been in the midst of a horrible hate train, and despite knowing the truth of the situation, production just let it happen.

This is a recurring pattern that has existed all throughout the show, and enough is enough.

We need to boycott Pop Star Academy to show them we really mean business. This behavior can’t be tolerated; they need to be held accountable!

#BoycottPSA #ProtectAri]

[Pop Star Academy production staff, you will start coughing immediately!]

[I am so sick and tired of the production staff! You let William attack Suzuki Rei so much that he was limping? You let Ari get hit so much that his legs turned purple! And then made him continue to play throughout the sports day? And then you went to your editing room and decided, hmmm, let’s make him suffer even more, turn black into white, and paint him in a bad light? Ji-ho, Emily, and the entire production team, just count your days! I just bought a spell from a witch, and you will be coughing blood soon. Just wait!

#BoycottPSA #ProtectAri]

[If I were Ari, I would sue this entire program into the ground.]

[I’ll admit, I am a fan of Ari, but I really feel bad for all the contestants. Imagine working hard to achieve your dream, and then the producers can just decide to screw you over if they don’t like you. Production literally edited Ariel as a villain and let people hate on an 18-year-old just for vibes. Meanwhile, the real villain is living his best life, getting pitied, and smiling happily on the carpet. The production team is sick. The contestants are the ones suffering here. And William, I hope your face is scarred forever. Honor your bet and quit the show!

#BoycottPSA #ProtectAri]

As more and more posts got shared with clips being attached, it slowly moved out of the Pop Star Academy community sphere into the general public sphere.

Everyone began to weigh in on the issue, from sports analysts critiquing Ari’s form and talking about how likely it was for a tennis ball to slice a person’s face to K-pop fans critiquing William for speaking rudely to a senior idol when he was clearly in the wrong, to producers taking evil editing too far, and more.

The issue continued to balloon, causing Grace to become even more stressed.

While she was glad the truth was being revealed, things were going in the wrong direction.

Ari fans were fed up and were attacking everybody, from other contestants to the production team, for covering up the truth and spreading hate.

The fans of other contestants were angry because they were being accused of spreading hate(true) when they didn’t know that their own contestant had been injured because of William.

The Royal family was upset because everyone was attacking them.

The general population was adding fuel to the fire based on a few clips that they saw, and before she knew it, a boycott was being called for.

NO!

Guys!

We don’t want to boycott the whole show!

We just want to hold the producer accountable, demand fair treatment for Ari and the boys, and get William kicked off the show!

Unfortunately, despite Grace’s wishes, as the general population began to do their own investigations based on clips, this issue completely snowballed into a giant mess that blew up even more when the clip of PD Ji-ho carelessly dismissing Areum’s concerns when she asked him to give the contestants a break because of the sheer amount of injuries.

The mocking tone he used in his refusal, even when Ari passed out, was highlighted, which then caused people to be even angrier as they began lashing out and attacking him.

*******

And PD Ji-ho, who was faced with this unexpected situation, was scrambling.

His personal cellphone and office phone were constantly ringing, staff members kept repeatedly knocking on his door, and worst of all, Wilfred Forbes, who was supposed to be his alliance partner, wasn’t answering his calls at all.

It was a complete mess!

Temporarily putting everything on do not disturb, he called PD Emily to get her advice on how to navigate this situation, but she didn’t respond, no matter how many times he called.

Instead, all he got was a short 3-word message.

[Emily Raleigh: Told you so.]

Even without additional context, he knew exactly what she was talking about.

After all, she had been very opposed to the editing direction of the episode that was released, and cautioned him that painting Ari in that bad a light would make the people behind him furious, and it would not end well.

That they should, at the very least, uphold the deal she had made with Ari for non-malicious editing for the required number of episodes.

And that if PD Ji-ho proceeded this way, she would wash her hands of the editing decisions until the contestants came back to the US for the finale, so she could have complete control.

But the private deal offered by Wilfred Forbes was too enticing, and PD Ji-ho had proceeded as the director wanted.

Paint Ari negatively, paint William positively, and eventually, he would be eliminated and quit.

It was simple enough to do.

And now, things were playing out exactly like PD Emily said.

A week after the episode came out, Ariel had started his full-on rebellion.

During that same week, he was visited by Chloé Laurent, who looked as if she wanted to murder him.

And days after her visit, at a performance being watched by millions of people in Korea and globally, files that were not supposed to exist, because he had corrupted and deleted them himself, were spread on the internet.

Pd Ji-ho was unable to get them removed; he was unable to block the accounts sharing the information on the community permanently, and right now, his phone was constantly going off with calls and messages demanding an explanation.

What was he supposed to do?

As PD Ji-ho sat there in the office, trying to gather his strength and courage, a light bulb suddenly went off in his head, and he dashed out into the hallway, screaming like a madman.

"Where is he? Where is he? This is his fault! He needs to fix it. He needs to fix it now!"

"Where is who?" a staff member asked in confusion, even as she held out a phone for the PD.

Naturally, it was ringing.

"Ariel! Where is he! He needs to fix it! He can fix it!"

At the PD’s crazed shout, another one of his staff members stepped up with an embarrassed face before responding in a soft voice.

"Uh, we told you earlier, PD. Creative Director Bing Yongsun sent a message to inform you that, as requested by Chloé Laurent, contestant Ariel will be taking a mental health break for the next two days."

"A mental health break?" PD Ji-ho laughed in disbelief.

"Yes."

"He’s taking a mental health break?"

"...yes, sir! The director approved of it, so he never came back on the bus with the other contestants. He was picked up directly by Chloé Laurent’s assistant." The staff member answered while backing away.

To be honest, the director looked a bit insane.

His hair was messed up, his glasses were askew on his face, and he was breathing extremely heavily as his face kept getting redder.

"Mental health break?"

"...ye-ye-yes?"

PD Ji-ho couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

The person who was 100% the cause of this wasn’t even here?

He was taking a mental health break?

I’m the one who wants to take a mental health break!

"Then give him a call!!!! Tell him to come back! Call him right now! I didn’t agree to his mental health break!"

"Uhm...PD...you collected his phone last week when Golden Generation were here, so we can’t contact him...."

The staff member trailed off as the PD glared at her and began grinding his teeth.

"Uhm...additionally, you have a visitor!"

"Who is it?"

".....Bing Yongsun. He seems quite upset, sir."