In mid-March, RIIZE fans announced they would enact a boycott of the group.
Since their debut, RIIZE have dealt with numerous invasions of privacy, with those involving Seunghan resulting in the idol’s ongoing hiatus from the group.
In March 2023, Anton was accused of dating a person from his hometown after a leaked photo, which has since been denied by the person involved. Eunseok was rumored to have dated an alleged sasaeng linked to notorious ex-trainee Han Seo Hee.
SM Entertainment released a statement addressing these situations, stating its plans to take legal action against those spreading misinformation and making malicious comments. However, fans were unsatisfied with the company’s actions regarding Seunghan’s hiatus and how the group has been handled overall.
There were already plans for a boycott of the group, and these were only intensified after RIIZE were spotted filming for what many assumed was their comeback, and Seunghan was not present.
Fans spread an image regarding the boycott that explains why and how it would be enacted, including boycotting any releases and merchandise.
So far, the boycott has seen results already.
Though it was not listed in the original boycott notice, fans also began unfollowing the group on all platforms as part of their protest and instructed others to do so as well.
According to the social media tracking platform Social Blade, the group’s Instagram following decreased by nearly 12 thousand followers and counting. The group’s TikTok account appears to have dropped from 2.580 million followers to 2.574 million, based on the app Countik.
The largest impact so far has been seen on X, where the group’s account has dropped by over 9,700 followers.
While these numbers may seem “small,” any movement by fans is often hard to enact and enforce. This, combined with the fact that the accounts gain anywhere from 500 to 2000 followers daily (meaning that unfollowing has to offset this number to see a negative change), means the boycott stands to make an even larger impact as it continues.
