When K-Pop Idols Get Exposed by Their Own Staff

BLACKPINK's Jisoo is at the center of a growing scandal after Belgian designer Benjamin Voortmans publicly accused her team of failing to return archive pieces from his Judassime label, loaned out for her solo album shoot months ago. What started as one designer's frustration quickly spiraled when other labels, including Andrew Curwen and Jacque Label, came forward with strikingly similar stories, raising serious questions about how Jisoo's team handles loaned items and whether this is part of a much bigger pattern across the K-pop industry. But this isn't the first time an idol has been called out by staff. EXO's Suho faced nearly identical allegations back in 2023, when a stylist accused him of keeping around 300 pairs of designer sneakers, prompting SM Entertainment to step in with legal threats and shut the conversation down. More recently, IVE's Liz sparked her own controversy in April 2026 after leaked screenshots suggested she wanted to keep a pair of borrowed jeans from a small fashion brand, igniting heated debate over celebrity power imbalances and the pressure smaller labels face when working with major idols. We're breaking down all three cases, the receipts, the netizen reactions, and what these patterns reveal about the darker side of idol fashion loans. Subscribe to Kookielit for more K-pop controversies, scandal breakdowns, and the stories nobody else is telling. #kpop #kpopnews #KOOKIELIT