EXO Star’s Photo With Fans Ignites Harsh Criticism
Chen is facing backlash after sharing photos from a small fan sign event.
The EXO member posted pictures from his recent Ktown4u fan sign promoting his new album Arcadia. The photos showed a surprisingly small turnout — about 20 fans total, both Korean and international. This sparked disbelief online, especially since the event notice promised 30 winners.
Chen left SM Entertainment last year and joined INB100 with Baekhyun and Xiumin. His last album Arcadia sold 13,576 copies in the first week — a steep drop from his previous album Door, which sold over 79,000.
The small fan turnout led to sharp online comments about EXO’s current status.
“No way EXO’s like this now.”
— @SUlyqCCoMDr9465 on X
“Wow… even if they called NCT, there’d probably be more people than this… ㅠㅠ”
— @X0159521663941 on X
Fans also compared it to Baekhyun’s bigger fan sign earlier this year.
The controversy reopened old wounds about Chen’s personal life. He shocked fans in 2020 by announcing his marriage and that he was expecting a child. Now a father of two daughters, some netizens criticized him for continuing idol activities.
“Wow, a dad sitting there doing a fansign. This is insane, seriously.”
— @hwipung on X
“But what do you even talk about there? Like, ‘Oppa, is your baby growing up well…?’”
— @gyeong336086 on X
One harsh comment pointed to Chen as the cause of EXO’s decline.
“Ugh seriously, I feel so bad for EXO. Just when they were starting to climb back to top-tier status with ‘Tempo’, that crazy daddy bastard brought out his baby ‘blessing.’ Just when people were starting to forget, he brought out a second kid. The final collapse was when he sang a fan song to his wife at their wedding ㅋㅋ That guy was the beginning of everything being doomed.”
— @qudtlstit77 on X
Meanwhile, some fans defended Chen, saying he has it all.
“Chen is the real winner. He dated, got married, had kids, still does idol activities, and makes money. He’s totally living the god-tier life.”
— @mylifeisuck on X
EXO teased a possible full-group comeback for December 2025. But Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin are still involved in a legal dispute with SM Entertainment.
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