PHOTO: Instagram/bini_gwen, Facebook/Lea Salonga

Privacy issues surrounding BINI seem to just get worse by the day. Of course, no one’s impressed with this. Now, many are getting disappointed and (righfully!) concerned about the girls’ safety.

On August 14, some BINI members expressed their dismay as fans breached their privacy while they were in Canada for their BINIVerse concert tour. It wasn’t just following them to public places and taking shots of them while doing unofficial schedules—it was way worse than that, IMHO.

Gwen shed light on what happened through her post on her official X (formerly Twitter) account. “Nakakalungkot, palala na ng palala,” she began her thread on X. The 21-year-old P-pop idol publicly disclosed that there were so-called fans who knocked at their rooms and asked for a photo with the girls.

She wrote, “I really hope everyone respects people’s privacy yung personal time we’re trying to adjust eh kase wala ganon na talaga, pero kahit privacy na lang, we appreciate your love and support and we always try na mapagbigyan kayo sa pagpapicture but please… not to the point you’ll go knock our rooms just for picture. Thank you.”

It doesn’t matter the time when it all happened but the fact that they knew and they knocked just for a photo was horrible enough. We think it’s a known fact that when artists are inside their hotel rooms or anywhere not known to the general public, it means that they are either resting or having their personal and private time.

Some BINI members like Aiah and Colet posted disappointed emojis as well, in agreement with Gwen urging people to respect their privacy. There were still level-headed fans who have also responded to the BINI members’ posts with caring words. Most also expressed their personal takes on the matter, calling out their fellow fans who have been manifesting unwanted behavior towards the artists.

X/bini_gwen

Lea Salonga calls for BINI’s privacy too

Aside from the fans, the Lea Salonga made sure to air out her thoughts. In an Instagram story, she wrote, “Hate me all you want for beating my drum loudly for this (I’ll gladly be the villain in your story) but the entitlement and disrespect is just too much! The ladies of Bini are human beings!”

ICYDK, the famous Broadway actress had gone viral last year for a video of her declining fans who asked for a photo with her, inside her dressing room. It happened in July 2023, when Lea was doing the Broadway musical Here Lies Love in New York.

Instagram/msleasalonga

In the video, one fan can be heard asking, “Hi, Miss Lea! Can we take pictures with you?” But Lea had a calm reaction to the fans at the doorstep of her dressing room saying, “Who are you? I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are.”

Despite the fans insisting on just one photo with the actress, Lea was really firm on her principle to not let anyone invade her privacy just like that, thinking that if she allowed it once, then others would follow suit.

So she told the fans: “If you’re not on the guest list, we cannot have you back here. So, you’ll have to get to the door because if I allow this now, then other people are gonna take advantage.” Since then the video went viral, and people have been debating on whether Lea should’ve just given the fans the chance to have a photo.

But even online, Lea had the right things to say, shutting down online commenters who knew nothing about her boundaries. “Okay, real-life demonstration: none of the actors in HLL have been to my dressing room. Not Arielle, Jose, Conrad, Melody, or anyone else. These are already friends and co-workers, and yet they respect my boundaries! So who is anyone else to want to invade my space? Make it make sense,” Lea stated in a 2023 tweet.

BINI On Respecting Their Privacy

Going back to BINI’s most recent incident, the notion of crazy and obsessive fans, or what we call sasaengs in K-pop terms comes into play. We may never know how or why the fans knocked at the girls’ rooms, but getting private information about artists’ locations is outright scary and should not be tolerated at all.

Throughout their career and since privacy issues surfaced, the Nation’s Girl Group have been very clear and firm about respect and boundaries. Aiah was the first to speak out about it among the members. A video of her getting mobbed by someone at a restaurant also went viral.

In an IG story, she wrote, “Don’t get me wrong, I like taking pictures with others, and I enjoy meeting people who are as passionate as we are in the world of music and entertainment. It also warms my heart to hear and see people slowly learning more about me and my group, Bini. But I just hope that people also see and respect us as human beings. We don’t always get to go out lately because we have been busy with work, and the least we can ask for is for others to respect our personal time and our humanity.”

Again, celebrities are humans. They deserve respect, boundaries, privacy, and safety

instagram/bini_aiah