JYP’s critique of a contestant’s (17) weight on ‘Nizi Project’ comes under fire

[Astro]

JYP Entertainment is forming a Japanese girl group through a survival show called ‘Nizi Project’, and on the latest episode contestant Ikematsu Riria (17) found herself being critiqued by JYP himself. That’s not a problem, but what made people mad was his advice to her about her weight.




While probably nicer than what netizens would say, people were understandably less than pleased with JYP over this, especially when in later episodes he talks abouthow those sacrifices might mean eating a meal a day.

Note: It’s said under the guise of making her dance better, and while many others have pointed out that’s not even necessarily true, it also is just absolutely not primarily about dance.

While I’d like healthier practices that involve methods other than starvation, it’s hard to be surprised by this comment, as people have said over and over that this is what the industry does. Hell, TWICE’s Momo said publicly on stream that she was subjected to worse.

This is for sure an industry and standards issue rather than a JYP specific thing, though (among other things) it should disabuse people who stan his company as anything other than arguably marginally better than the terrible industry standard.

——

Not sure this is necessarily the best post to ask on, but how is Nizi Project for those watching? I’ve heard about it and I assume it’ll go well, but I haven’t actually seen anything from it at all yet except this.

Also unrelated … JYP speaks Japanese?

Source

 

[Riri]

this is just gross and if he struggled with weight management he shouldn't reinforce those beliefs that skinny is better
just how many girls are going to watch this and feel bad about themselves

 

[asdfg]

he is cancell !

 

[Yeddong]

He's mentally preparing her for criticism. JYP knows what he's doing, but i-fans believe this is wrong when it's the opposite. I guess yall are agree that this girl will be cyber bullying until she commits su¡c!de. The girl will take his words better than the netz.

 

[OutroTearTheFirst]

how those sacrifices might mean eating a meal a day.

um, excuse me?​

 

[Whisky23]

As usual, people are cherry-picking words and not relaying the actual conversation. And of course, some people on the internet and in this thread are criticizing without even watching the source video, and instead reacting to someone's interpretation of the conversation. He said that the extra weight slows her down and is affecting her movements (not being to hit the right beat at the right time). He said that idols need to treat themselves as athletes, and that they need their bodies to be in the best physical condition if they want to perform their best. There is a lot of truth in that. An aspiring idol who practices dancing / singing regularly and treats his/her body healthily will naturally be in better shape. He is, however, not fat-shaming her the netizen way which is to call fat people ugly and unappealing. Instead, his words are directed to her within to context of how her extra weight affects her abilities as an idol.

There is a reason why there are no overweight ballerinas. If you showed up at a selection for a sports team or a ballet troupe and you're not in good physical condition, people would immediately assume that you are not serious. Again, he's not talking about your average person doing cover dances of Kpop groups for fun. He's talking about being a professional idol.

As for skipping meals, alternate day / intermittent fasting is very common nowadays, and is considered much better and more effective than restricting calories for long periods. But if you care to watch the other Nizi project videos, you can also see his interaction with Mako where they talked about her focus on exercising to prepare for her dance routine.

 

[Astro]

As usual, people are cherry-picking words and not relaying the actual conversation. And of course, some people on the internet and in this thread are criticizing without even watching the source video, and instead reacting to someone's interpretation of the conversation. He said that the extra weight slows her down and is affecting her movements (not being to hit the right beat at the right time). He said that idols need to treat themselves as athletes, and that they need their bodies to be in the best physical condition if they want to perform their best. There is a lot of truth in that. An aspiring idol who practices dancing / singing regularly and treats his/her body healthily will naturally be in better shape. He is, however, not fat-shaming her the netizen way which is to call fat people ugly and unappealing. Instead, his words are directed to her within to context of how her extra weight affects her abilities as an idol.

There is a reason why there are no overweight ballerinas. If you showed up at a selection for a sports team or a ballet troupe and you're not in good physical condition, people would immediately assume that you are not serious. Again, he's not talking about your average person doing cover dances of Kpop groups for fun. He's talking about being a professional idol.

As for skipping meals, alternate day / intermittent fasting is very common nowadays, and is considered much better and more effective than restricting calories for long periods. But if you care to watch the other Nizi project videos, you can also see his interaction with Mako where they talked about her focus on exercising to prepare for her dance routine.

whats your opinion on kyla

 

[Aerith]

As usual, people are cherry-picking words and not relaying the actual conversation. And of course, some people on the internet and in this thread are criticizing without even watching the source video, and instead reacting to someone's interpretation of the conversation. He said that the extra weight slows her down and is affecting her movements (not being to hit the right beat at the right time). He said that idols need to treat themselves as athletes, and that they need their bodies to be in the best physical condition if they want to perform their best. There is a lot of truth in that. An aspiring idol who practices dancing / singing regularly and treats his/her body healthily will naturally be in better shape. He is, however, not fat-shaming her the netizen way which is to call fat people ugly and unappealing. Instead, his words are directed to her within to context of how her extra weight affects her abilities as an idol.

There is a reason why there are no overweight ballerinas. If you showed up at a selection for a sports team or a ballet troupe and you're not in good physical condition, people would immediately assume that you are not serious. Again, he's not talking about your average person doing cover dances of Kpop groups for fun. He's talking about being a professional idol.

As for skipping meals, alternate day / intermittent fasting is very common nowadays, and is considered much better and more effective than restricting calories for long periods. But if you care to watch the other Nizi project videos, you can also see his interaction with Mako where they talked about her focus on exercising to prepare for her dance routine.

Skipping meals shouldn't be common. I'm for being healthy but skipping meals is an extremely unhealthy way to suggest dieting. You can't discuss treating your body healthily while saying just don't eat.

I've been someone struggling with skipping meals for a while, and it's been extremely bad for me to do so. It's not good for anyone to do so, you need a certain amount of calories a day at the very least.

 

[grandmajudy]

As usual, people are cherry-picking words and not relaying the actual conversation. And of course, some people on the internet and in this thread are criticizing without even watching the source video, and instead reacting to someone's interpretation of the conversation. He said that the extra weight slows her down and is affecting her movements (not being to hit the right beat at the right time). He said that idols need to treat themselves as athletes, and that they need their bodies to be in the best physical condition if they want to perform their best. There is a lot of truth in that. An aspiring idol who practices dancing / singing regularly and treats his/her body healthily will naturally be in better shape. He is, however, not fat-shaming her the netizen way which is to call fat people ugly and unappealing. Instead, his words are directed to her within to context of how her extra weight affects her abilities as an idol.

There is a reason why there are no overweight ballerinas. If you showed up at a selection for a sports team or a ballet troupe and you're not in good physical condition, people would immediately assume that you are not serious. Again, he's not talking about your average person doing cover dances of Kpop groups for fun. He's talking about being a professional idol.

As for skipping meals, alternate day / intermittent fasting is very common nowadays, and is considered much better and more effective than restricting calories for long periods. But if you care to watch the other Nizi project videos, you can also see his interaction with Mako where they talked about her focus on exercising to prepare for her dance routine.

At least people should watch the conversation themselves

 

[Yeddong]

whats your opinion on kyla

Kyla is the example of how an idol is not prepared for rude criticism from netizens.

 

[sexy cutie]

As usual, people are cherry-picking words and not relaying the actual conversation. And of course, some people on the internet and in this thread are criticizing without even watching the source video, and instead reacting to someone's interpretation of the conversation. He said that the extra weight slows her down and is affecting her movements (not being to hit the right beat at the right time). He said that idols need to treat themselves as athletes, and that they need their bodies to be in the best physical condition if they want to perform their best. There is a lot of truth in that. An aspiring idol who practices dancing / singing regularly and treats his/her body healthily will naturally be in better shape. He is, however, not fat-shaming her the netizen way which is to call fat people ugly and unappealing. Instead, his words are directed to her within to context of how her extra weight affects her abilities as an idol.

There is a reason why there are no overweight ballerinas. If you showed up at a selection for a sports team or a ballet troupe and you're not in good physical condition, people would immediately assume that you are not serious. Again, he's not talking about your average person doing cover dances of Kpop groups for fun. He's talking about being a professional idol.

As for skipping meals, alternate day / intermittent fasting is very common nowadays, and is considered much better and more effective than restricting calories for long periods. But if you care to watch the other Nizi project videos, you can also see his interaction with Mako where they talked about her focus on exercising to prepare for her dance routine.

food for thought i do agree with your athlete analogy. but dont athletes need to eat more as well since they do too many activities


btw ballerinas look unhealthily skinny btw.

 

[grandmajudy]

Skipping meals shouldn't be common. I'm for being healthy but skipping meals is an extremely unhealthy way to suggest dieting. You can't discuss treating your body healthily while saying just don't eat.

I've been someone struggling with skipping meals for a while, and it's been extremely bad for me to do so. It's not good for anyone to do so, you need a certain amount of calories a day at the very least.

It's different for individuals. Some people do respond well to intermittent fasting where they take in their days calories only during an eating window (say 8 hours in a 24 day). Yes starving yourself not taking enough calories / nutrients is not healthy though.

If you take a look at the video, JYP could use more tact in how he's speaking with the contestants but he is not trying to get Riria to conform to some generic standard or set amount of weight. He says that each person needs to find the appropriate weight for them and then work to maintain it.

 

[Whisky23]

whats your opinion on kyla

I don't know much about Kyla, since I only have time for Twice. What little I do know is that the criticisms about weight came from knetz. You may have your own opinion about JYPE, but I follow the Twice members enough to know that they don't have any restrictions of what they eat since they regularly stuff their faces on their vlives.

Skipping meals shouldn't be common. I'm for being healthy but skipping meals is an extremely unhealthy way to suggest dieting. You can't discuss treating your body healthily while saying just don't eat.

I've been someone struggling with skipping meals for a while, and it's been extremely bad for me to do so.

On the other hand, I am someone who has managed to improved my health through intermittent fasting, and for the past five months, has managed to lose over 10kg and reduced my resting blood sugar levels and other markers with no exercise (gained weight because of and unable to exercise due to a knee injury). I'm not super strict about it, and often apply it about half of the time in a week. Again, we're not talking about simply skipping meals - intermittent fasting is intentioned, with specific goals, timetables and guidelines.

Intermittent fasting - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[grandmajudy]

food for thought i do agree with your athlete analogy. but dont athletes need to eat more as well since they do too many activities


btw ballerinas look unhealthily skinny btw.

Athletes eat more but that's also because they burn more calories. A lot of ex-athletes gain a lot of unhealthy wealth often after they retire if they still eat the same way. Michael Phelps used to take in 10,000 calories a day for certain periods of his training.

 

[GenjuroX]

I don't know if he said it just for TV or if he really meant it. I know that he's been known to eat only one meal a day, but not everyone is the same as he is. For a person that promotes a healthy diet and healthy mentality, this is going the other way. I am absolutely disappointed.

 

[Whisky23]

food for thought i do agree with your athlete analogy. but dont athletes need to eat more as well since they do too many activities


btw ballerinas look unhealthily skinny btw.

I agree - ballerinas look unhealthy. Unfortunately, no ballet company will hire you if you don't like like someone who is training regularly, and that sadly is the reality. You don't have to be a ballerina to become an idol, but what JYP was saying was that if you body is not in the best condition, you won't be able to perform at your best. If you are auditioning, then not being in better shape doesn't give a positive impression. Despite that, the girl passed, and made the effort to get in better shape. Time will tell if the weight loss will help her perform better and help her make the final cut.

Athletes do eat more...when they are at competitive shape and are training regularly. But athletes have an on-season and an off-season. Off-season, they'll eat what they want and let themselves gain weight, but several months before the season starts, they will also restrict calories (relatively for them) and increase cardio in an effort to get back to competitive weight levels.

 

[HerefortheThrone]

As usual, people are cherry-picking words and not relaying the actual conversation. And of course, some people on the internet and in this thread are criticizing without even watching the source video, and instead reacting to someone's interpretation of the conversation. He said that the extra weight slows her down and is affecting her movements (not being to hit the right beat at the right time). He said that idols need to treat themselves as athletes, and that they need their bodies to be in the best physical condition if they want to perform their best. There is a lot of truth in that. An aspiring idol who practices dancing / singing regularly and treats his/her body healthily will naturally be in better shape. He is, however, not fat-shaming her the netizen way which is to call fat people ugly and unappealing. Instead, his words are directed to her within to context of how her extra weight affects her abilities as an idol.

There is a reason why there are no overweight ballerinas. If you showed up at a selection for a sports team or a ballet troupe and you're not in good physical condition, people would immediately assume that you are not serious. Again, he's not talking about your average person doing cover dances of Kpop groups for fun. He's talking about being a professional idol.

As for skipping meals, alternate day / intermittent fasting is very common nowadays, and is considered much better and more effective than restricting calories for long periods. But if you care to watch the other Nizi project videos, you can also see his interaction with Mako where they talked about her focus on exercising to prepare for her dance routine.

Actually extra weight won’t slow her down and affect her movement and this guy proves it. He’s a backup dancer for a jpop boy group and definitely isn’t your average fit dancer but he’s good just like the other dancers. It’s honestly more about beauty standards than anything else for kpop

 

[Some]

Why is this getting buzz now ? Everyone was fine before & no said anything when he said the same thing to jihyo on sixteen

 

[Riri]

Kyla is the example of how an idol is not prepared for rude criticism from netizens.

It should not be common for idols to be fat shamed or scrutinized for the smallest reasons. Until people will continue to enable the netizens by saying stuff like "the entertainment world is cut throat" then this problem will persist and will break even the most confident and "prepared" idol.

 

[Whisky23]

Actually extra weight won’t slow her down and affect her movement and this guy proves it. He’s a backup dancer for a jpop boy group and definitely isn’t your average fit dancer but he’s good just like the other dancers. It’s honestly more about beauty standards than anything else for kpop

So you use one example and it applies to all? That dancer is a guy, and the only thing the video proves is that guys have more muscle mass that enables them to carry that extra fat around. I wonder what condition he'll be in if they had to repeat that dance a few more time.

As someone who has been thin, fit and overweight over the years, I can straight up say that being overweight never did me any good in my sporting activities. Will the extra weight help when you have to do multiple takes for a video shoot? Or multiple practices for any of those music shows? Or perform the whole duration of a 2.5 hour dome concert?Have you seen those slim and fit idols gasping after a stage set on one of those year-end award shows? Do you think they would be better off or worse off if they were carrying an extra ten pounds on them?

Is there an element of social beauty standards involved? How can there not be? Kpop, at its core, is constructed around visuals - good looking idols (nothing that plastic surgery can't fix), sharp dance moves (hours and hours of rehearsals for laser sharp moves), and extravagant sets and stages to complete the package. But to blame the comments on just "beauty standards" ignores the physical standards necessary to be a top-tier idol.