when - april 2019
why - mee-yon wasn't smiling as much in interviews, on red-carpets, and during music shows, and netizens bashed her for having an rbf, or 'resting bitch face', and for being rude.
level of scandal - high-level
exposure - high-level
reason behind the scandal - there wasn't any reason behind her not smiling as much, she just wasn't. after all, you don't need to smile.
response - she put out a statement on her Instagram going as follows
"hi all,
i know what has been said about me recently is pretty... bad, i'm not gonna lie. people are attacking me for being rude, and for being cold at award shows, and not smiling.
listen to what i have to say, i think it's ridiculous that in this industry, female idols are torn down for not smiling at red carpet events, or at award shows, or at music shows, and that we're rude. or that we're bitches.
what about the males?
okay, i'm just going to go ahead and drag some of my friends into it. let's take jimin, as an example. whenever he doesn't smile or just stares coldly into the camera, y'all are like, "JiMiN oPpa rUn mE oVer WiTh a TruCk" and then when it comes to us females, y'all tear us down for not smiling, for being cold.
stop, okay?"