Korean star Lee Soo Hyuk is both a model and an actor. Since his debut, he has been renowned as a 'sculpted beauty', with a captivating yet aloof look that makes him the viewers' pick for the most suitable actor to play a vampire. Coupled with his impressive height of 185cm and deep voice, his presence is literally walking pheromones. After recently signing with a new agency, Lee Soo Hyuk has become noticeably more active. At the end of August, he flew to Hangzhou, China to hold an offline fan meeting, but it broke out that he was being 'overworked' by the local organizing team. Many fans vented their anger on Weibo, blasting: 'The organizer is inhumane!'
Fans revealed that the fan meeting on that day lasted nearly 14 hours, with Lee Soo Hyuk signing more than 500 posters in a row. Even though his arm was in discomfort, he still persisted. Some fans claimed to have overheard suspected staff from the organizers saying: 'Make him finish signing right now, he can’t leave unless it’s all done, even if he has to sign until midnight.' Fans were furious: 'Is it possible that one person heard it wrong, but a whole group of people heard wrong too?'
In addition, the venue's air conditioning broke down that day, causing Lee Soo Hyuk to sweat through three outfits, yet he still continued on. However, it was suspected that staff were enjoying air conditioning backstage. There were also claims that the organizing team tried to shift responsibility, blaming fans’ dissatisfaction with the organizer onto Lee Soo Hyuk himself. All these outrageous acts prompted Chinese fans to flood the organizer's Weibo, demanding: 'Apologize to Lee Soo Hyuk!' and angrily cursing: 'A complete mess, they're obsessed with money, just shut down already!'
In fact, Lee Soo Hyuk is not the first victim in China of dubious fan signing events. Recently, Thai artist Orm Kornnaphat experienced a similar situation in Changsha, Hunan, where a signing event originally set for 650 attendees was oversold by organizers to nearly a thousand. Organizers even allegedly colluded with scalpers to sell perks at high prices, with face-to-face signing privileges being scalped at 3,000 to 5,000 RMB (about RM1,776 to RM2,961).
During the process, Orm worked for seven straight hours without a break, only drinking a beverage given by a fan. That day, the organizers similarly shifted blame to the artist, saying the event was delayed because Orm didn't finish signing, and even allegedly threatened: 'No refunds unless all signatures are done.' Responsibility was again pushed onto the artist. In the end, chaos at the venue required police intervention, and Orm, feeling sorry for her fans and wronged by the organizers, was moved to tears. Ultimately, Orm's alma mater sent a car to pick her up, and the school later issued a statement condemning the organizers for violating laws.
News Source: Hush! Star News