Netizens Defend NewJeans’ Minji Against Absurd Smoking Allegations

On July 9, a post titled “Minji’s Indoor Smoking Habits”gained traction on the Korean forum Pann Nate, garnering over 71,000 views.

The author of the topic included a video of Minji from NewJeans participating in a livestream with her group. In the footage, the female idol can be observed using her fingers to hold onto a toy horn and blowing into it.

The author’s main suggestion is that Minji’s gesture resembles how one would hold a vape diffuser, and that the female idol is being accused of smoking. However, many netizens who have seen this accusation have quickly dismissed it as utter nonsense.

Here are some remarks made by netizens.”

NewJeans seems to be really popular these days for these kinds of posts to be appearing
Connecting something like this to whether or not a person smokes is completely nonsensical.
Female idols seem to have a tough job… In the music video for “Twenty-three,” IU played a toy flute and people were making up theories about how it represents a cigarette… Don’t live like that, people
I don’t smoke at all and I’ve never touched a cigarette, but I do this gesture a lot with my hand…
For round objects like straws, it’s easiest to hold them between your index and middle fingers rather than holding them with your thumb and index finger, so I don’t know why you would make such a connection…

Link to the original source: Pann Nate