On 9th July 2026, ENHYPEN leader, Yang Jungwon, speaks up on the member line-up on a Weverse livestream after their Peru stop of their BLOOD SAGA tour.
Jungwon stated that he started the live solely for the reason to speak up about the recent controversy within the fandom. The translation of what he spoke about in his live is shown below:
There is a lot of uproar on social media regarding his statement. Jungwon said, “..people have been saying we haven’t given them a proper statement, and they’ve continued to bring up the number of the members.” Fans were not given a clear statement about the ex-member’s departure – that is factual. The only thing fans were given was a notice with no prior warnings. Moreover, Jungwon did not mention his name at all, but everyone knew who he was talking about – Lee Heeseung.
Jungwon is not wrong for speaking up, it just sparks confusion and more conflict within the fandom. For example, on the 4th July 2026, ENHYPEN performed in Brazil and the fans were recorded singing the original fan-chant very clearly during their song Go Big Or Go Home. The members were seen smiling throughout, no signs of discomfort. Although nobody can prove how they actually felt. If they did feel uncomfortable with it, why did they choose that song for encore where they did the 7-chant again? One of the other members (Kim Sunoo) even caught Heeseung’s representative plushie happily and placed it on the stage with them, when he could have thrown it back to the fan – view here.
Fans in Peru also did the 7-chant, the concert the 6 performed at before Jungwon went on live. This can be seen in a clip posted on X here.
His statement started to make little sense when he said, “I’m not saying that our concerts in Brazil and Peru were bad. They were amazing.” It is confusing because he just touched on how it makes them uncomfortable and the known highlight of these concerts were the fans representing themselves as “ot7 fans”. It is strange that this is being said now, rather than when there was clear conflict in the crowds at their concerts and the fan-chant being an inaudible mix of the old and new one.
As mentioned above, fans were conflicted by this and with each other. They flooded social media with their thoughts, theories and responses to his statement.
Time will tell whether the fans will adhere to this statement with their other tour stops, but it is very clear that this only separated the fandom even more.
On 22nd June 2026, ENHYPEN’s official Instagram posted a reel insinuating a change in their theme and ended in their new logo which used to be “EN-” to now “EN” encased in a black box.
On the 21st June 2026, fans noticed ENHYPEN’s profile picture on all platforms to have become intentionally blurry – speculations involved it being coincidental for this to happen the day the ex-member of the group debuted as a soloist.
@/enhypen blurry profile picture on all platforms on 21/06/2026
The post that was uploaded the next day left fans in confusion and excitement. Many fans believe this rebrand is happening due to the departure of a member, so that instead of him “haunting the narrative”, they are making a new impression as a 6-member group.
On 27th June 2026, BELIFT released a Brand Renewal Film, visually presenting the change in logo and how it has changed. Instead of them previously being “connected” with the hyphen, they have entered a new dimension and became one inside the hyphen (the logo).
NEW DIMENSION BEYOND HYPHEN Screenshot taken from the Brand Renewal Film.
The official rebranded ENHYPEN logo/s Screenshot taken from the Brand Renewal Film.
There are speculations about whether this will weaken their vampire storyline or enhance it – with this new era in motion, fans can only wait in anticipation for what ENHYPEN will release next.
On 22nd June 2026 at 6PM KST, Evan, also known as Lee Heeseung, dropped his first solo album – RIDE OR DIE.
His solo debut album consists of two tracks – Overflow and Ride or Die, both with contrasting themes. Overflow has a soft, sentimental vibe, whereas Ride or Die is more hyperpop.
Evan on Weverse live (22/06/2026) about the making of Overflow:
I wrote it during a difficult period of my life. It was a period when countless emotions surrounded me, yet they simply wouldn’t resolve. The verse starts as if there is no hope, but in the hook, the line “Here we go again” is repeated, looking towards hope. In the end, it is a story about overcoming hardship.”
The music video for Ride or Die compliments the song’s themes through a symbolic narrative. In the opening scenes, Evan is shown alone, disconnected from and ignored by those around him, while a mysterious car follows him throughout the city. The imagery creates a feeling of uncertainty and restlessness that matches the song’s energetic sound.
The turning point arrives when Evan enters the very car that has been chasing him. Accompanied by the lyric, “It’s gonna be alright,”. This moment suggests a shift in mindset, from being pursued by uncertainty to confronting it head-on. The atmosphere changes noticeably afterwards – rather than ignoring or judging him, the people around him begin dancing around him as he is on-top of the car. This contrast between the beginning and end of the video reinforces themes of self-acceptance and confidence. As Evan has described his music as reflecting himself, the narrative can be interpreted as a journey towards embracing one’s identity and moving forward with conviction.
The debut of the soloist garnered lots of expectations and reactions online due to his previous music presence in the K-pop group, ENHYPEN. Many fans (known as EVER) even had theories to what the Ride or Die music video was trying to convey:
The posts online range from high praise to deep analysis of Evan’s debut.
As this marks a new era, Evan is expected to appear on various music shows and broadcasts, including KBS and M-Countdown, as the promotion cycle begins to unfold. And with this new era in motion, fans can only wait in anticipation for what Evan will do next.
With his first solo in-person fan-sign, despite not having any solo content out yet, scheduled for 24th May 2026 in Tokyo, Evan has, yet again, become the focus of online discussion among K-pop fans tracking his recent public appearances.
From airport sightings to livestream moments, posts circulating on X have sparked ongoing speculation about his connection with ENHYPEN following his departure from the group.
On 23rd May 2026, Evan was spotted at Incheon Airport in South Korea, where fans on social media platforms such as X, quickly took notice of a specific keychain attached to his bag. He later posted on Weverse a selfie and a picture of his shoes next to his bag which gave the fans a clearer view of the keychain.
The keychain is actually a paired matching one with his former member, Kim Sunoo, suggesting it indicates that he remains on good terms with the members following his departure from ENHYPEN. However, others cautioned against overspeculation of small personal items, noting that there is no confirmation regarding any private relationships with Evan and the group.
In a separate moment, fans highlighted a livestream shortly after he landed in Tokyo, in which Evan appeared to mention “ENGENE,” the fandom name associated with ENHYPEN.
Viewers noted that he seemed to pause and redirect himself shortly afterwards, with some clips circulating on X before the livestream was later deleted.
A YouTube channe, EVANTOPIA, shortly posted the full livestream with captions where viewers can see the artist mention “ENGENE” at 9:29 which can be viewed here.
This led to further speculation online, with some users suggesting the removal may be linked to the mention, while others argued there is no confirmed reason for the deletion. Similar situations have previously been observed in other livestreams, including a birthday live from Park Jongseong, which was later re-uploaded with parts blurred for privacy reasons.
On 24th May 2026, clips from the fan-sign circulated online showing Evan asking whether a translator was available during interactions with fans. Some attendees noted that he appeared to struggle with speaking Japanese throughout parts of the event, despite continuing to interact warmly with fans and maintaining a positive attitude.
The moment led to sympathetic reactions online, with several fans praising his efforts to communicate during his first solo fan-sign overseas and instead were slamming the company for the way they arranged this.
The tweet posted by @/iS2semetery above is a summary of what happened during the fan-sign, events described by a Japanese ENGENE who attended the event. Evan not being provided a translator seems to be reckless planning as he is unable to speak fluent Japanese and this was an event where he was supposed to interact with his fans stress-free. Another tweet was a translation of what he said at the event, humorous and promising.
Before he arrived in Tokyo, many people were surrounding him and he only had one bodyguard, which fans found outrageous. However, this is not new to them, having minimal security has been an on-going issue. After the fan-sign event when Evan arrived back in Korea, fans were seen throwing letters at him. Evan has a reputation of always taking his fans letters, even if he can’t do anything else like take a picture.
ENHYPEN were initially a 7-member group under the HYBE BELIFT LAB company. The group consisted of: Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo and Ni-ki. However, as of 10th March 2026, the company and he had released a statement about him departing the group to pursue solo activities. Despite fan protests and conspiracies to bring him back into the group whilst pursuing solo activities, it seems as if nothing has worked and their 2026 tour, continuing into early 2027, is going forward with 6 members for the first time.
ENHYPEN, now a 6-member Korean boy-group, started their Blood Saga Tour today in Seoul and fans have mixed opinions. Every song on the setlist features Heeseung as they have not got an album without him. This received a mix of backlash and support, although the support had no correlation to the member, whereas everything that even had the slightest link was negative towards a 6-member tour. Across platforms like X, fan reactions quickly reflected this divide.
A somewhat portion of fans responded positively, praising the members for maintaining their performance standard despite the change in line distribution and choreography:
As usual, there were fan posts admiring their visuals and such. However, this was only a small percentage compared to the sea of other posts that were ENHYPEN-based.
With evidence provided above, it is clear that ENGENE’s are still mourning Heeseung’s departure from the group. This is similar to a situation that occured with a different group called RIIZE under SM Entertainment; a member had left in 2023, after only being active in the group for roughly 2 months. Even now, fans comment under RIIZE posts that “RIIZE is 7”, despite the member (Hong Seunghan) being in a different group under the same label (XngHanAndXoul).
For many fans, this shift is not simply about performance, but about emotional attachment to the group’s original dynamic. The continued reactions suggest that, for some, the identity of ENHYPEN remains closely tied to its original line-up.
As the Blood Saga Tour continues, fan responses are likely to evolve, reflecting both support for the current members and an ongoing sense of what has been lost.
There are many types of tickets – one of them is a VIP ticket (sometimes referred to as VVIP or VVIP+). This is the ticket people usually fiend for as it allows fans to interact with the members after the concert ends. It is typically coordinated by staff, who take these ticket holders into a separate room where interactions happen in rows, depending on the venue’s management. These tickets range from £300-500 for this treatment.
Data Analysis
For this specific enquiry, I conducted my own research with an online survey to find out what people really think of VIP send-off.
56% of participants said they do like that VIP send-off is an opportunity for concert-goers, whereas 44% disagree. Although 55% like the concept of it, only 5% of participants have actually purchased a ticket. Why is that? Well, good thing I asked 😉! I asked participants how the experience was if they attended, or why they didn’t purchase a VIP ticket.
From the figure, the common themes identified are all negative besides one of them which is the positive experience and fan connection, though it is one of the lowest ranked themes (7.7%). Over a quarter of respondents (25.6%) cited cost as the primary barrier, while concerns around value, access, parasocial pressure, and safety each accounted for roughly a tenth of responses.
While the chart highlights the most common reasons respondents have not engaged with VIP send-off, it does not capture the intensity or reasoning behind these views. To explore this further, participants were asked directly for their opinions on VIP send-off pricing and the experiences they have seen which have influenced their responses.
The prices of these tickets were repeatedly mentioned to be excessive and disproportionate with the time spent with the artists:
“Literally outrageous.”
“Paying an extra £100-200 to spend maybe 3 seconds with each member of the group (if you’re lucky) is so unfair.”
“Daylight robbery.”
Other respondents echoed similar concerns, arguing that no concert experience should exceed £200 without a guaranteed meet-and-greet. Several participants compared send-offs unfavourably to cheaper fan interactions such as fan-calls, questioning why significantly higher prices offer less certainty.
Inequality and Hierarchy among fans:
Participants raised concerns that these tickets were only for wealthy fans and a way of showing superiority to other fans:
“Only accessible to people who view that money as pocket change.”
“Pressures other people to spend more due to emotional attachment.”
“Those with more money get special treatment and feel “closer” to the artist.”
Other respondents claimed to know people who have only gone if they have gotten VIP, and if not they don’t go at all, hinting that they view the regular tickets as inferior.
Organisation Failure:
To actually begin the send-off experience, VIP ticket holders are ushered into another area where they wait for the artists to come in and speak to them. However, from the responses given, majority believe that although the artists are there, it is not enjoyable for everyone:
“It’s such a messy way for fans to meet idols.”
“Overselling of the ticket makes it suffocating for both fan and artist.”
To elaborate further, people are called in rows, which are randomised and highlights the intensity of the interaction will be based on luck.
Emotional Labour and Artist Well-being:
After performing for a maximum of four hours, which is dancing whilst singing to the best of their ability, they are expected to act over the moon in-front of their fans. Do not get me wrong, I am certain they love their fans, but after a long day, I’m sure it’s not one of the first things they’d like to do.
“It dehumanises idols – like they’re just products.”
“They have to force a smile after performing for hours.”
“Can be stressful having people waving things at you to sign and phones all around.”
“It’s draining for both sides.”
Most respondents agreed and said their enthusiasm during this time is situational and may not be a great experience for everyone.
Parasociality, Entitlement and Fan Behaviour:
It is no secret that most fans buy these tickets to stand out amongst other fans and have their interaction go viral on X or TikTok.
“Some fans just buy it for a Y/N moment.”
“It pushes unhealthy parasocial relationships and blurs the line between admiration and intimacy.”
“There will always be “fans” that forget their limits and make artists uncomfortable.”
“Fans act absolutely insane and put their idols in danger without realising it.”
It can be frustrating for artists trying to divide their attention to all the fans in front of them whilst they are having their name called left, right and centre.
Anecdote:
For me, I personally do love seeing send-off videos and have wanted to be in the OP’s shoes, but when I actually think about how those people got there, I automatically try to forget about it. I believe spending half a grand on artists, no matter how much they may have helped you, puts them on a pedestal, and makes you seem inferior to them. Also, the artists know how around how much would have been spent to be there. Personally, I’d feel ashamed that I’ve gone to these lengths for an interaction which lasts less than two minutes. However my perspective may be swayed by my religious beliefs.
I believe having fan-meets (ticket-sold, not raffle-won) as separate events would be much more appropriate and hassle-free for both parties.
Today, the 28th November 2025, the MAMA awards was held in Hong Kong – and watching ENHYPEN win the daesang hit much harder than I expected.
It brings me joy to see people win awards because I believe everyone has something to celebrate; the happiness on their faces, the disbelief, the gratitude — it’s such a pure type of moment. There’s something so comforting about seeing people finally receive what they’ve been working towards.
The voting for the VISA Fan’s Choice Award was held from 30th October to 10th November 2025. From then, I made it my mission to vote every day for my ult group – and so did many other ENGENEs. The voting worked so that you could vote once per device, so I even went ahead and asked my family and friends to vote. I may have made promises I did not intend on keeping at all, like owing them a meal if ENHYPEN won… but I’m sure they’ve forgotten about that! When it came to the final vote, I ended up talking to people in my uni who I didn’t speak to regularly just so they could vote — and bless their hearts, they actually did. They were hesitant though, may I add: “Your group better win after this.”
So, today from 10:30 AM, I was watching the awards live, unable to take my eyes off it. Wherever I went, my phone was in front of me — there was no way I was missing any of it. The live vote was announced shortly after and ended within an hour. After a good three hours, it was finally time for the VISA Fan’s Choice Award winner to be announced. I held my breath; it’s almost as if time stood still for a moment. There had been known misconduct with the voting, such as people cloning accounts, so towards the end of the vote ENHYPEN wasn’t placed as number 1. There really was no way of knowing if they were going to win.
I had waited so long for this moment. As soon as the host said “ENHYPEN,” I cheered as if it was my own win. Seeing them get what they dreamed of achieving in 2025 warmed my heart so much. Yang Jungwon — the leader of the group — of course began his speech with, “ENGENE!!!” Bless his heart, he broke into tears after that, and so did all of us who were rooting for them. It was such an emotionally intense moment, even more so for them.
This moment made me realise that I am not ashamed of being in fandoms, because this feeling can’t be matched by anything else. Rewatching them being announced as the winners reminds me of the adrenaline I felt, and it was great. I will never grow out of this behaviour, and I am forever thankful I was born with the fangirl gene.
You can watch the announcement of the VISA fan’s choice award here.
mominatalks 