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Adapted from a novel, the 2006 American movie, "The Devil Wears Prada", starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, offered a glimpse into the fashion scene in New York. Who could expect that the title turned out to be a foreshadowing of the recent bad luck that Prada has experienced with its ambassadors?
Since late 2020, the luxury brand's ambassadors in South Korea and China were involved in scandals.
Red Velvet's Irene and Exo's Chanyeol
Prada appointed the leader of K-pop girl band Red Velvet, Irene Bae, and a member of K-pop boy band Exo, Park Chanyeol, as brand ambassadors in September 2020.
In October 2020, Bae, was embroiled in a controversy exposing her alleged bad attitude. A lengthy Instagram post by photoshoot editor Kang Kook Hwa accusing a celebrity of being rude to her was being discussed on an online community platform.
While the post did not name the celebrity, Kang had included hashtags, "Psycho" and "Monster". "Psycho" is one of Red Velvet's more recent hits while "Monster" is the title track of the sub-unit, Red Velvet - Irene and Seulgi, effectively narrowing down the suspects to these two members of Red Velvet.
According to Kang's post that Allkpop translated, the verbal abuse that Bae had allegedly inflicted upon Kang was so hurtful that the latter cried on the spot. Bae has since apologised twice, once on her personal Instagram shortly after the news broke out and subsequently on a music community portal Lysn on Jan. 15.
Photo via Vogue Korea
Photo via Vogue Korea
Within the same month, Park was involved in a cheating scandal. A netizen claiming to be Park's ex-girlfriend for three years exposed his alleged cheating ways in an open letter posted on an online community platform.
In the post, she accused Park of remaining unashamed of his repeated one-night-stands with more than ten other women and provided pictures to support the authenticity of her account. SM Entertainment, his agency, declined from releasing any formal statements about the controversy, they announced on their social media that they would take legal action against anyone who spreads lies and rumours about their artistes.
South Korean netizens noted that both stars share a Prada ambassadorship with comments that include, "The devil, indeed, wears Prada."
The scandals of the two South Korean Prada ambassadors have yet to blow over when another ambassador was caught in a scandal this month.
Zheng Shuang
Chinese actress Zheng Shuang was unveiled as a Prada ambassador via a promotional video on their official Weibo account, alongside singer Cai Xukun and actress Chun Xia on Jan. 11, 2021.
Photo via Prada on Weibo
Zheng's messy break-up with producer ex-boyfriend, Zhang Heng, resulted in his disclosure that Zheng refused to take responsibility for the two children born to different surrogate mothers in the United States.
Due to the moral implications surrounding surrogacy and child abandonment in China, Zheng has come under severe criticism from the Chinese public.
On Jan. 19, Prada has released a statement via Weibo, saying:
"The Prada group has ceased all partnerships with Ms. Zheng Shuang."
Photo via Weibo
They have also taken down all posts containing Zheng's individual promotional content from their feed.
The most liked comments in the Weibo post include:
"She was never suitable with the brand image, I don't understand why you chose her in the first place."
"The curt statement underlies resentment."
"World's shortest ambassadorship ever."
Top images via Vogue Korea and Prada on Weibo.