Singer and actor T.O.P (38, born Choi Seung-hyun), who recently made headlines with his new romance, has seen his fan photo exhibition canceled.
On October 4, T.O.P’s official Korean fan site, ChoiSeungHyun.com, announced on social media that they were forced to cancel the exhibition originally scheduled for October 31 to November 1.
The fan site explained that it typically plans the events based on previous years’ attendance. This year, considering T.O.P’s ongoing tour and various fan circumstances, it scaled down to accommodate 300 attendees over two days. However, actual registrations only reached about 25% of the projections, with fewer than 100 sign-ups.
They continued that despite having already secured the venue and paid deposits, it initially intended to proceed to honor the commitment to registered fans, even at a financial loss. However, a wave of cancellations over the past two days has further reduced expected attendance to just 10-15% of the daily target.
It explored every avenue to salvage the exhibition, but ultimately concluded that the current numbers make it impossible to deliver the event as envisioned. After much deliberation, they’ve made the difficult decision to cancel, the statement read.
ChoiSeungHyun.com acknowledged the impact on international fans: It’s acutely aware that many overseas supporters planned trips to Korea for this event. It felt it crucial to announce the decision promptly to minimize potential travel-related losses. They added that this cancellation is heartbreaking for them after months of preparation. It sincerely apologizes to everyone who reserved tickets and eagerly anticipated the exhibition.
The now-canceled event was to be the fan site’s inaugural photo exhibition, drawing inspiration from T.O.P’s first solo album, Multifaceted. The site had been actively promoting the exhibition on social media until October 1. However, rapidly dwindling reservations led to its ultimate cancellation.
Speculation is rife that the exhibition’s demise might be fallout from T.O.P’s recent relationship reveal with actress Nana. The couple confirmed their romance on October 2, with T.O.P’s representative telling News1 that they initially met during a music video shoot and gradually developed a romantic relationship.
While many fans celebrated the new couple, others expressed disappointment over what they perceived as a lack of transparency before the announcement. The subsequent wave of reservation cancellations has led some to view the exhibition’s cancellation as direct backlash to the relationship news.
T.O.P and Nana reportedly began dating in June and have been together for five months.