Justice For Jonghyun: K-pop Fans Continuously Slam Oliver Tree Despite Singer's Apology

American singer Oliver Tree finally issued his apology years after using Jonghyun's funeral photo, but K-pop fans are still not happy about it.

For years, SHINee's fans, SHAWOL, have been waiting to hear Oliver Tree say sorry over his reckless usage of Jonghyun's photo to promote his Goodbye Farewell Tour in 2019. The image in question resurfaced recently, causing massive appeal from K-pop fans.

Finally, they got the apology statement from the American singer himself after K-pop fans flooded him with hate messages on his social media accounts. Despite his explanation, he still endured the backlash from Jonghyun's supporters.

ALSO READ: Oliver Tree Disrespected Late SHINee's Jonghyun; K-pop Fans Demand Apology From American Singer

Oliver Tree Says Sorry After Using Jonghyun's Photo

On his Instagram Story, the singer penned a lengthy statement to address the recent issue. He apologized to the late singer and everyone who was hurt by the image he edited years ago.

According to Tree, he did not have any intention of hurting anyone. As to how he found the image, he and his team reportedly had no idea where the picture was taken from. Still, he assured everyone he would not have had posted it if he knew the story behind the photo.

When someone finally informed him about the picture in question, Tree deleted the image and offered no apology at all.

"There was no intention of anything malicious, just no research which caused a very foolish mistake. At the time I didn't understand the gravity of posting images I didn't research. Since then me and my team have been extremely careful looking into everything we post," he went on.

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Oliver Tree took his time to explain how he ended up using the image, saying that he was making an album and tour about death. He recalled his cousin, who was braindead and eventually died when he was in middle school.

Since then, death reportedly became a topic he wanted to explore with his art.

In the end, he offered his sorry again and insisted it was not intentional. Tree also sent condolences to Jonghyun's family and his fans.

What Did Oliver Tree Do That Enraged K-pop Fans?

Oliver Tree's apology statement came after Jonghyun's fans demanded a proper apology from the American singer for using the idol's funeral photo.

In 2019, Tree was scheduled to launch his Goodbye Farewell Tour. Instead of creating his own promotion photo, his team photoshopped his face onto the K-pop idol's funeral picture.

Most K-pop fans slammed him for using the image as if it came to a stock. They also accused him of turning a person's trauma into something embarrassing to make fun of himself.

Although Tree said his sincerest apology already, K-pop fans warned him about the backlash he will surely suffer from with his wrongdoing. Fans also explained that Oliver Tree's apology was two years late and that if he was sincere about feeling sorry, he would have done it right away.

SM Entertainment and SHINee have not seen the online commotion yet, but they are surely spending their time instead on preparing for Jonghyun's death anniversary in December.

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