The organizers responded to the accusations.
Bruno Mars’ recent concert in South Korea has become embroiled in controversy as netizens suspect the organizer might have given preferential treatment to celebrities over ordinary concert-goers.
The pop star held two consecutive shows on June 17 and June 18 at the Jamsil Olympic Main Stadium as a part of Hyundai Card’s Super Concert series. According to reports, the cumulative turnout was 101,000 people for the two days. As this was Bruno Mars’ first performance in the country after nine years, the anticipation was high among the public. Reports say the first show sold out in 45 minutes and the second show in 25 minutes. The ticketing site recorded its highest number of simultaneous visitors in these two days.
With such fierce competition for tickets, netizens can’t help being suspicious of how all the celebrities who attended the shows could secure the best seats. On day 1, over 35 A-list celebrities were spotted at the concert venue, while on day 2, there were more than 50 of them! Controversy arose when many casual attendees claimed that most of these stars enjoyed the concert from front-row seats. At the same time, some in the general audience had seats near a wall that covered the stage, obstructing their view completely.
Netizens are speculating that these celebrities received special treatment from the organizers through separate invitations, which only made it difficult for general fans to get good seats.
- “To be honest, I can’t help comparing the wall view to the view of the invited people.”
- “This is aristocracy.”
- “I think it’s a problem that the invitations were for the front-row seats.”
- “It’s only right that the people below aristocrats, the lowly, should have the view of a wall.”
- “So, who is telling the truth? Because there are people who are saying there were too many invited celebrities while others are saying there weren’t.”
- “Instead of the management, the real problem is that they gave out invitations for the front row. At least give them a refund.”
As the controversy grew, some stars have come forward to refute these claims. GOT7’s Youngjae confirmed on DearU Bubble that he bought the concert ticket with his own money. Reports also confirmed that actor Song Hye Kyo also paid for all the six tickets she purchased under her name for the concert.
Youngjae posting about Bruno Mars’s concert 😭😭😭
“@.brunomars Hyung, really….. ㅜ” pic.twitter.com/qzLm1yQcAK
— 𝑗𝑢𝑣𝑦 (@sevendless) June 18, 2023
#SongHyeKyo went to Bruno Mars concert 😍 pic.twitter.com/3rb7xIBW1z
— 🌺Kyolove (@_hyekyolove) June 18, 2023
Regarding the controversy, Hyundai Card officials have given brief explanations on their part. They said that the celebrities who attended either received invitations from the artist himself or their agencies collectively purchased the tickets.
We have not yet confirmed the exact number of invitations. From our understanding, celebrity management companies purchased tickets as a group. The remaining tickets were mostly sold through the ticketing system.
—Hyundai Card
The organizer also said, “We will contact customers with restricted view seats due to the stage setup directly and refund them.”
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