Kangin recently announced his official departure from the group, Super Junior. He revealed he had “always felt sorry to the members” and believed it “was the right thing” to do.

Soon after the announcement, veteran idol Harisu took to her personal Instagram to express her sadness over his departure from the group.

I’m saddened by the unfortunate news that I heard today..;; Back when Super Junior first debuted, we used to promote around the same time. He was a well mannered, kind, and hard-working junior who always ran over to greet me first. I felt bitter every time I saw a bad news report about him but to see him leave the group and for more malicious comments to follow.. I think it’s very wrong of you to love your idol when they’re doing well and spit them out when something bad happens!! Don’t you think it’s wrong of you to say you were even his fan in the first place?! I’m sending my support to Kangin, who is probably suffering the most. I hope you will return to the stage and broadcasts with the same bright energy that you had before!! — Harisu

After reading her post, many netizens criticized her for standing up for Kangin and “judging” what makes a true fan.

After the overflowing backlash, Harisu took to Instagram once again to speak up about the matter.

You guys are such ridiculous people! I want to use a lot more harsh words but I’m going to be respectful while writing this message! Did I say that we need to praise him for the wrongs that he’s committed? I wrote out my personal feelings after seeing all the malicious comments under his announcement about departing the group. Seeing that you’d write something as trashy as this clearly shows you weren’t a real fan, doesn’t it?! The real fans left messages saluting his many years of hard work and suffering. They hoped they would see better sides to him than the unfortunate news reports that they’ve read. They claimed to continue cheering him on despite the many years that they’ve suffered together!! How can you hide behind a faceless fake account and write malicious comments criticizing people’s integrity? How can you call yourself a fan!!? Using this to make a comeback? It’s not even funny! And I haven’t had any estrogen shots for over 25 years?! Did you see me get estrogen shots?! What are you basing all of that on? This is just f*cking hilarious! — Harisu

Harisu is a veteran idol who debuted back in the early 2000’s. She is the first and only transgender idol in the industry and has been a close friend to Super Junior’s Kangin.