In this house (which we call POP!), we do not condone irresponsible buying habits.
In the recent Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho episode, the award-winning journalist featured a girl who had stolen around P2.7 million pesos from her family in order to fund her K-Pop merchandise collection. This shameless behavior went on for around 5 years, until her family members caught up to her.
Before the KMJS episode had aired and the production gave a short teaser about their latest episode featuring the girl, the Filipino K-Pop community seems to have heard the same narrative a few years ago.
K-Pop stans, remember Sharlene? A.K.A, that girl who went viral for almost the same thing, except, for BTS merch?
https://twitter.com/koya_Yanyan/status/1276262614914355201?s=20
To Sharlene Louise Borleo
Girl, if you wanna buy bts merch, you should've just save money instead of taking advantage of other people. You even dragged your own grandfather into that mess. Hope you learn your lesson now.
— lovely (@herlostjam_) June 24, 2020
People haven’t forgotten that girl, or what she had done. Essentially, that girl scammed loads of people just for her to get BTS merchandise. She even got her grandparents into it and plunged them into debt.
And now with the girl that was featured on Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, well, K-Pop fans and merch collectors aren’t having a good time right now. The reason: their parents will surely use it as an argument against their beloved hobby.
taena ni ate damay tayong lahat dyan pag napanuod ng mga magulang naten to bukas sa kmjs jdjsjsjs https://t.co/1vtiOC3jkH
— POST MALOI (@vicotinamide) March 4, 2023
nct always at the crime scene 😭 #KMJS pic.twitter.com/6sz6GSY7vT
— Ry (@hwyunseongist) March 5, 2023
I only buy few albums but getting judgment from parents already. (in fact at this age lol) buying from my own money 🤷🏻♀️https://t.co/nNGJhgijFG
— 🌞Shine_RockStar (@Shine_case143) March 4, 2023
30 mins nalang KMJS na. Ready na ba lahat ng kpop fan jan? Naku kumareng Jessica Soho, wag na wag na mag state ng price! Juskooo!!! Baka mapa compute ako sa mga nagastos ko! Yoko masaktan🥹
— pen gyu min shi ✨ (@713HoshMin) March 5, 2023
eto na sya HAHAAHAHHAHAHA pic.twitter.com/66NsGZXXsp
— ann ; stream maestro🪄 (@soosajang) March 4, 2023
TEEEEEH omggg pic.twitter.com/8LQu5T4jNT
— 𝙯𝙞𝙖 ⁷⋆˚🐾˖° ♡ (@dprgukkie) March 4, 2023
the buyer hasn’t been replying for weeks then after sending their downpayment they ghosted me then i would open my dms with this?!? liliparin na ba tayo ng team ng kmjs?! https://t.co/rh9gO9G722 pic.twitter.com/0vQpLa82hm
— aubri (@lauvenhauls) March 4, 2023
TANGINA NIYO GAKAGSJAGAKSHJAGAJAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHSUSYW 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/rj9TOhRatu pic.twitter.com/cGoK125k2L
— aubri (@lauvenhauls) March 4, 2023
KPOP fangirling/fanboying should be a motivation/inspiration not an obsession.
— Deth 🥀🐝 (@dcdcdecember) March 4, 2023
Hoy wag kayong manonood ng katabi magulang niyo
— q_een (@bo_Onini) March 4, 2023
Sanaol future secured pic.twitter.com/0MGQQrlmmN
— 🪞 . (@_istrawbaerie) March 4, 2023
me as a student kpop fan: pic.twitter.com/dWKzD0ezcQ
— jaja 🧸 (@bmjnfairy) March 4, 2023
tomorrow my parents will totally a side comments about this hahhaa, about me i can't watch kmjs tom with them.. cause i love exo they can't do anything about it. specially it's my own money. not them… sooo the plan is to sleep early, ok bye ☺😁
— sal | ♡ always with Baekhyun ♡ (@rlbBHpCY276) March 4, 2023
K-Pop stans were also surprised to see the account of Philippine Concerts promoting the live selling being done in order to support the girl’s family. Yeah, the family she technically stole from.
https://twitter.com/philconcerts/status/1630939872327524424?s=20
No, we helped her to promote the live selling.
— Philippine Concerts (@philconcerts) March 4, 2023
KMSJ contacted us po, to promote the live selling ng kpop merch po for financial needs ng family.
— Philippine Concerts (@philconcerts) March 4, 2023
And as of writing, this week’s episode of KMJS is at the top of the Philippines’ trending topics on Twitter. Damn.
Trending at no. 1 #KMJS pic.twitter.com/LEHIeicRmv
— Philippine Concerts (@philconcerts) March 5, 2023
KMJS: *exposing bea*
MOM AND DAD: *bombastic side eye to me* #KMJS
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/xn92p0vwch— 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 (@vampirejeonjk) March 5, 2023
https://twitter.com/kunilchan/status/1632371224746819585?s=20
Buy and collect responsibly <8 #KMJS pic.twitter.com/iY1CdMwpeK
— 伦茨 🍀 ≷ ia (@uyeahcuyriley) March 5, 2023
pero ngl, this bea one on kmjs really gave a bad image to all the kpop fans / kpop collectors out there. after that kmjs segment, we are now being monitored strictly by our parents saying "baka ninakaw mo lang pinambili mo dyan" or "ayan o, nagaya na kayo dyan"
— jen ♡ (@jnyscart) March 5, 2023
#kmjs oh that bea girl is INSANE pic.twitter.com/SxZWWrZdWt
— nicole 🐰ྀི (@baechustokki) March 5, 2023
Saw that #KMJS will air a segment on K-pop collections.
As a collector myself, the absolute rule is to spend within your means. Merch can wait.
Now, in defense of collectors, buying merch is no different than collecting vintage cars. It sparks joy.
Collect responsibly. pic.twitter.com/Irb2N7liBk
— Neil Arwin Mercado (@NAMercadoINQ) March 5, 2023
slayism sa mga kpop fans na naka-iwas sa sermon #KMJS pic.twitter.com/NLajjPZKuH
— Mica ♡ (@sekaijunhui) March 5, 2023
on serious note, kmjs should've been wiser about mentioning kpop groups because we know that idols will make parents angry eventhough they have nothing to do with it. what's the concert video for? why do you have to show the face of idols instead of the face of the fangirl +
— ⋆｡ﾟares ｡⋆｡ (@yngjngon_won) March 5, 2023
Just a reminder for all of those K-Pop merch collectors out there, please, PLEASE use your money responsibly. In fact, if it isn’t *technically* your money, then don’t use it to buy things for your personal gain. Don’t use K-Pop as an excuse for doing such irresponsible behavior. This girl, (and Sharlene back in 2020) is the reason why most of the locals and our parents don’t approve of K-Pop.
In fact, K-Pop idols themselves remind their fans to limit their spending for their favorite group. For K-Pop groups like EXO, their fans are still their fans, whether or not they can buy an album or not.
Next time, let’s all be responsible with our money, okay? And let’s not resort to stealing or embezzling money, what’s important is that you can still support your favorite K-Pop groups by just being their fans. That’s it.
Other POP! stories that you might like:
Senior K-pop idol HyunA receives backlash for her concerns about NewJeans
Korean star Lee Je-hoon had some pretty interesting revelations during his Manila press event
Korean shows to watch if you’re a fan of suspense-thrillers
ASTRO’s Rocky leaves group and agency after 7 years
BTS’ Jungkook shows all of us what being ‘carefree’ means by deactivating his Instagram account