On social media, some fans of the K-pop group Viviz are protesting the decision for the group to continue with a performance in Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend following the death of Moonbin, a member of the group Astro, earlier this week. The reason for the protest is that Viviz member SinB and Moonbin had been close friends since childhood, and they believe SinB should be given time to grieve her friend. They also fear she will be unable to attend his funeral, though details of funeral arrangements are not being disclosed to the public.
SinB and Moonbin Were Close, and Some Fans Don’t Want Viviz to Perform at We Bridge Music Festival Right Now
As Moonbin himself had explained recently to GQ Korea, SinB and Moonbin had been friends since they were eight years old, and he was amazed when SinB initially debuted in GFriend (which would be the precursor to Viviz). They reportedly grew up in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do learning to dance at the same time, and since they both debuted, there had been myriad instances of SinB and Moonbin interacting with each other as friends.
Moonbin was found dead at his home on April 19 in South Korea in what is believed to be a suicide. However, Viviz, which consists in total of members Eunha, SinB, and Umji, is scheduled to perform at the We Bridge Music Festival in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 22. It is a three-day event in total, beginning today, April 21, and the full lineup of K-pop groups includes Oneus, Dreamcatcher, Cix, Kang Daniel, Jessi, Monsta X, Be’O, Viviz, and BamBam.
The mission of We Bridge is to “connect (Asian) creative expressions for one collective experience and celebrate the Asian artists, cultures, and leaders that are fueling them,” and to its credit, it has issued a statement about the passing of Moonbin, promising to honor the artist with a tribute before the show begins in earnest today.
At the We Bridge Music Festival, we will be honoring Moonbinās memory with a special tribute this Friday evening, ahead of our first concert performance š¤ https://t.co/19Rjoqq0cb pic.twitter.com/sdsb85fRHe
— We Bridge Music Festival & Expo (@WeBridgeExpo) April 21, 2023
That is a thoughtful and frankly necessary gesture under the circumstances, but some are still upset that Viviz and especially SinB must travel to Las Vegas to perform at the We Bridge Music Festival when the death of Moonbin happened just days ago. These concerns are exacerbated by images that have been shared of the Viviz members at the airport preparing to depart, dressed in black.
Viviz took a flight to Vegas.
17 years of friendship and Sinb wonāt even be able to attend Moonbin's burial. This is so heartbreaking.šš pic.twitter.com/O1s9TyJMOW— tine (taylor's version) ā” (@cristinmntflc) April 21, 2023
That being said, even under these difficult circumstances, one imagines it would be quite difficult to break an international contract so close to the date of performance. Fans have specifically asked We Bridge and Viviz’s company, BPM Entertainment, not to make them perform, but it appears that the show will go on regardless.
