Koyote’s Shinji Cancels KT Wiz Home-Game Celebration Performance After “Refusing First Pitch” Controversy

Shinji, from the K-pop and variety group Koyote, decided to abruptly cancel a celebration performance for a KT Wiz home game that was scheduled for next month, after her “refusing the first pitch” remarks during a YouTube broadcast sparked a fierce online dispute among baseball fans.

■ “Accepting the concerns humbly”… Abrupt cancellation of a special performance on Aug. 2

On Aug. 14, Koyote’s agency, JG Star, released an official statement and said, “Both the company and Shinji Ms. have humbly accepted the concerns and voices from KT Wiz fans, and we have smoothly completed an agreement with the KT Wiz organization that the本 main celebration event, which was scheduled for Aug. 2, will also not be held.”

The agency said that at first, regardless of whether the audience belonged to a particular team, it had accepted a proposal for a special celebration performance as “Koyote the singer” and had finalized the schedule with the goal of giving joy to all spectators who came to the ballpark. But during the coordination of the event, Shinji’s personal remarks about turning down a first-pitch offer—an additional proposal—were exposed through YouTube without any filtering, and the controversy grew out of control. In the end, the agency made the heavy decision to cancel the entire event.

■ “Being a Hanwha fan means refusing the opposing team’s first pitch isn’t proper”… A painful misunderstanding born from consideration

Earlier, Shinji said on her recent YouTube channel that while talking about behind-the-scenes details of how the KT Wiz home-game performance was arranged, “I was offered a first-pitch proposal along with the performance, but I refused it because I’m a Hanwha fan and it would be a bit strange.”

The issue was that the game in question was none other than the showdown between the KT Wiz and the Hanwha Eagles. After realizing the fact late, Shinji muttered, “I probably can’t even wear a Hanwha uniform,” and a subtitle saying “I’ll wait for the Hanwha first pitch” appeared on screen.

After the video spread mainly across baseball online communities, KT Wiz fans said, “It’s not proper toward home fans that a singer who comes to do a celebration performance at the home stadium openly shows her fan sentiment toward the opposing team and refuses the first pitch,” and “Is the money with KT but her heart with Hanwha?” and expressed displeasure.

Meanwhile, some people argued back that “It was a reasonable act of consideration to think it would actually be a burden to both teams’ fans if an entertainer known for being a Hanwha fan to the bone stood on the mound of the opposing team’s home stadium,” sparking a heated debate online.

■ Agency: “The context wasn’t delivered as intended”… “We will take even more careful precautions” — Apology

In response, her agency, JG Star, actively clarified Shinji’s sincerity in the statement. The agency said, “It is widely known that Shinji Ms., who is an avid Hanwha Eagles fan, would not be proper and could cause emotional discomfort for both home-team fans and away-team fans if she were to go up onto the mound at a KT Wiz home game to throw the first pitch. Therefore, she politely declined only the first-pitch proposal.”

However, the agency added that “As the related YouTube content was uploaded later, sufficient context before and after was not conveyed, so we unintentionally ended up causing misunderstandings and discomfort among KT Wiz fans,” and it bowed her head in apology. It also promised prevention going forward, saying, “In all processes of communicating with the public and fans, our company and the artist will take even more careful attention so that there will be no misunderstandings.”