2023 NCT Hotel Incident

In 2023, a series of videos was posted by American Twitter user @sunkissedviews (known hereafter by her name "Judy"Judy's dox was released on the internet as a result of this incident, but further personal information about her should not be included on this page.) purporting to show a hotel room of members of the k-pop boy group NCT. The post was widely circulated around kpop stan twitter with fans condemning the behavior and accusing Judy of being a sasaeng fan. Eventually, widespread fan outcry lead to SM Entertainment (NCT's label) announcing that it would be taking legal action. 
== Events ==
=== The Tweet ===
Prior to the incident, Judy was known in the NCT fan community for being an alleged American sasaeng, or stalker, fan.One Twitter user expressed anger at Judy's actions in a Tweet dated to February of 2023: j on X: "i swear to god every time i have to see judy's stalking ass stalking nct once again i wanna fucking scream and kick somebody, leave them the fuck alone!!! 🤬 god i hate her so much and the fact that she has the same name as me infuriates me even more, disgusting" / X
https://x.com/jumalaska/status/1630208551049371648 On August 20, 2023, Judy responded to a CuriousCat message stating "you’d have so many cute stories to tell about the members but nctzens wanna be annoying" with " i have soooo many cute stories."https://x.com/sunkissedviews/status/1693308172121821658 She then quote-tweeted this tweet and shared video footage of the inside of a hotel room with the caption "this was rushed bc the circumstances buttttt that hotel key card though."https://x.com/sunkissedviews/status/1693318340519854535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1693318340519854535%7Ctwgr%5E1be90c1eb4b2b2ab3ddfa236b1efb8138e180c14%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koreaboo.com%2Fnews%2Ffan-break-nct-jaehyun-hotel-room-nctzens-angered%2F The hotel room in the video was identified as having been that of NCT member Jaehyun from the band's U.S. tour in October of 2022.https://www.soompi.com/article/1608543wpp/sm-entertainment-announces-strong-legal-action-against-sasaeng-of-ncts-jaehyunhttps://www.koreaboo.com/news/fan-break-nct-jaehyun-hotel-room-nctzens-angered/ https://x.com/caro_xo_/status/1693386508516909132?s=46&t=cAqOO5r9futBNO3hFGmC-g Jaehyun's personal belongings and stage outfits are visible in the footage, and fans recognized the hotel room from a live streams NCT members released during the tour. 
=== Fan Response ===
The tweet quickly spread throughout the NCTzen fan community along with the broader English-language kpop communuty. Fans condemned Judy's actions, determining that she (for legal purposes, allegedly) broke into the unoccupied hotel room after stealing the hotel key card. https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/23/k-pop-group-nct-s-agency-to-take-legal-action-after-fan-breaks-into-member-hotel-room-in-us Outraged fans took to reporting the incident as a crime to SM Entertainment, with users sharing guides on how to report the behavior to the company's Kwangya 119 system.https://www.ibtimes.com/watch-american-nct-sasaeng-enters-jaehyuns-hotel-room-now-fans-want-her-reported-3709256 The controversy became a hot topic of discussion over the next few days. 
In a now deleted Reddit post on r/legaladvice, user hngye (who claimed to be a friend of Judy) described the situation, stating that Judy posted the videos to intentionally "anger kpop fans." The poster inquired as to the possible legal ramifications she might face.https://x.com/hopiesland/status/1694863569593020471 https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/15zaass/deleted_by_user/
The controversy would also spread to the Korean-spaeking fandom as well. https://www.instiz.net/name_enter/88991101?page=1&category=2&srt=3&k=&srd=2 In Korean 
==== Other Incidents Involving Judy & Friends ====
The @sunkissedviews account was created at some point in December of 2015. https://docs.google.com/document/d/10liQKyZjXzzvo0dN8ymufts3rj2NSM6uimjQG8csAFA/edit?tab=t.0
Judy was alleged to have participated in sasaeng behavior as far back as 2017. The earliest documented instances of Judy's behavior can be traced to 2019, however. https://www.asianjunkie.com/2023/08/21/sme-requests-an-investigation-of-plans-to-take-legal-action-against-sasaeng-who-posted-vids-inside-of-ncts-jaehyuns-room/ On May 1, 2019, Twitter user @dayflyaway posted an extensive call-out thread about Judy's behavior. https://x.com/dayflyaway/status/1123606178225905665?s=46&t=cAqOO5r9futBNO3hFGmC-g
Overall, Judy was infamous for having attended nearly half of NCT's concerts in the United States, usually sitting close to the front. She had been known to participate in mobbing artists at airports and following members to their hotel rooms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFo9stVWGCU
Judy was identified as one of the girls who be spotted stalking members of NCT out on a snow day excursion in Chicago on the Johnny's Communication Channel vlog "Sledding is Fun! A Fine Day in Chicago❄️ with YT, DY, MK" which was uploaded on February 27, 2023 to the NCT YouTube channel. 
=== Judy's Defense ===
On August 20th, Judy responded to the drama sharing a screenshot of text messages with a friend in which she claimed that she had obtained the key card from the members themselves.https://x.com/sunkissedviews/status/1693452670021837283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1693455251330752900%7Ctwgr%5E1be90c1eb4b2b2ab3ddfa236b1efb8138e180c14%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koreaboo.com%2Fnews%2Ffan-break-nct-jaehyun-hotel-room-nctzens-angered%2F As to how this happened, Judy refused to elaborate and encouraged others to "whatever fan theories y’all want." https://x.com/sunkissedviews/status/1693455251330752900 Overall, fans did not buy Judy's claim. 
Fans speculated that, instead of being given access by the members, Judy may have accessed key card by either bribing hotel employees or was enabled by SM staff (which has been known to happen with sasaengs).https://www.reddit.com/r/NCT/comments/15yi0j4/question_about_the_stalker_situation/ https://x.com/naevisaeonic/status/1693753985532887434 https://www.reddit.com/r/NCT/comments/15xxya2/comment/jx8xgv0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Judy also shared a screenshot of her applying for help from her university's Student Legal Services department, claiming that she was going to sue SM. This resulted in many users joking about university students having to defend Judy in court.https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/15zl6a8/thoughts_on_the_nctzen_sasaeng_situation/ 
=== SM Entertainment Statement ===
After many fans reported the video to NCT's company, SM Entertainment, the agency released a statement regarding the matter.https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-08-22/entertainment/kpop/Action-to-be-taken-against-fan-who-entered-boy-band-members-US-accommodation/1852574 On August 22nd, company representatives released a statement declaring, "“The leaked video is an illegal act that severely violates the artist’s privacy. We are collecting evidence against the initial uploader and all those who distribute the video. We will request the cooperation of domestic and international sites as well as legal firms to ensure a thorough investigation is conducted by law enforcement agencies.” 
As of July 2024, no concrete proof that Judy faced legal consequences for her action is known to exist. She is still active in the NCT fandom and the video footage is still readily available on her account.
== Commentary ==
== See Also ==
"Summary of NCT Sasaeng Judy" - Google doc by Twitter user @junhuilvrr containing information about Judy's history with NCT https://x.com/junhuilvrr/status/1630804519171784704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1630804519171784704%7Ctwgr%5E415b9ed6c68f8a7562b887e1a157f5d170547c65%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.asianjunkie.com%2F2023%2F08%2F21%2Fsme-requests-an-investigation-of-plans-to-take-legal-action-against-sasaeng-who-posted-vids-inside-of-ncts-jaehyuns-room%2F
"The NCT American sasaeng Judy Hoang (a lil deep dive)" - video essay by Youtuber Duck posted on September 18, 2023. 
== References ==
Category:2023 Events
Category:Scandals
Category:K-Pop Fandom
Category:NCT