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Producer:  Peuli Bakshi

4 Times K-Pop Idols Were Criticized For Endorsing Alleged Pro-Israeli Starbucks

Starbucks Boycotted

Owing to the ongoing Israeli hostilities towards Palestine, Starbucks has been boycotted by a lot of people globally for allegedly being pro-Israeli.

K-pop Idols Criticized

Several K-pop idols have also found themselves in the midst of hatred for endorsing the brand ever since, the latest case being that of NCT's.

NCT

K-pop boy band NCT recently saw a massive decline in social media following due to their collaboration announcement with Starbucks Korea. As a reaction to this, a lot of posts with #SM_boycott_genocide flooded in X.

Taeyong

Amidst all these, NCT's leader Taeyong posted "Boycott" text on his Instagram story but took it down after 10 mins, probably due to his agency's policies. However, he received praise for showing courage to post that.

Previous Cases

NCT is not the only K-pop group under fire for being related to Starbucks. Previously idols  like Somi, Le Sserafim's Yun-jin, and Enhypen's Jake also underwent similar reactions.

Jeon Somi

Soloist Somi faced heavy backlash after a cup with a Starbucks logo was seen in one of her TikTok videos last year.

Jake

Enhypen's Jake was seen consuming a Starbucks drink during a live stream in January. He received a lot of hate for that and had to apologize on social media.

Huh Yun-jin

Le Sserafim's Huh Yun-jin posted a photo of sipping Starbucks coffee on Instagram. After that, her page was filled with critical comments, leading her to take down the post.

Starbucks Korea

Starbucks Korea is separate from the US brand, with Emart owning 67.5% and Singapore's GIC owning the rest, since Starbucks sold its shares in 2021. Collaboration items are Korea-exclusive.