Chaeyoung directly addressed viral smoking allegations through her fan platform on August 12th, denying she was smoking indoors and explaining the object in the widely shared clip was actually a beverage, not a cigarette. She said she’d originally planned to stay quiet, but decided to speak up after so many people kept bringing up the smoking claim directly to her, adding that she found the whole situation exhausting.
She also pushed back on the logic of the accusation itself, pointing out how unlikely it would be for her to smoke openly in a crowded space, calling herself more careful than that. The video in question was filmed during a rave hosted by FKA twigs at Seoul’s Dongdaemun Design Plaza on August 11th, but the footage was shot from behind at a distance that made the object in her hand difficult to identify clearly.
