T.O.P's 20-year fan site shuts down amid public romance with Nana

A fan site dedicated to T.O.P — the singer and actor known for his time in Big Bang, whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun — has announced it is shutting down after 20 years, amid his newly public romance with fellow singer and actor Nana, born Im Jin-ah, of After School.

The fan site Choidot (choisunghyun.com) announced through its official SNS account Friday that it would cease operations, ending a run that began Aug. 24, 2006.

The site cited T.O.P and his agency, Topspot Pictures, as the reason for the closure, saying it could "no longer overlook their disregard for reality, evasion of responsibility, and attitude of taking fans' dedication for granted."

The operators said that despite T.O.P describing his album as being "for the fans," the performances and communication fans had most wanted and waited for were never adequately delivered. "Album promotion, fan communication and the operational work that comes with fan support have all been left to the voluntary efforts of individual fan sites," they said, and went on to say that "making and releasing an album is the artist's job, and waiting for it, enjoying it and choosing to support it is the fans' prerogative — an album is not a gift or an honor bestowed upon fans."

They also called on T.O.P to "let go of the arrogance of assuming fans will simply move as you wish," and urged him not to "isolate yourself among people who only tell you what you want to hear."

The fan site reiterated that while T.O.P had billed his album as being for the fans, the live performances and direct communication they had most hoped for never materialized, and that the burden of promotion and fan support had fallen entirely on volunteer fan-site operators.

The operators also accused the agency of failing to establish even basic communication channels. "They accepted fan support while providing no official inquiry channel, community space or even an email address," they said. "As a result, inquiries from overseas fans were directed to us, and we ended up serving as the go-between for the company and its fans."

They further said the agency had at times directly demanded that photos be deleted or edited from fan posts, and criticized it for offloading responsibilities that should have been its own. "Just because fans stepped up voluntarily does not mean the agency's obligations disappear," they said.

The fan site also pushed back against the suggestion that its decision to cancel an exhibition was driven by anger over the romance. "Many fans already knew about the relationship before the YouTube content was filmed, but said nothing out of respect for the artist's privacy," the operators said. "It is hard to accept the characterization of our disappointment and the exhibition cancellation as simply the reaction of fans upset about a relationship."

"Fans' love and support are not something to be used when convenient and ignored when inconvenient," they added. "We do not want to negate the sincerity of the past 20 years, but if preserving that sincerity means continuing to swallow every hurt and stay silent, we can no longer do that."

T.O.P and Nana confirmed their relationship through their respective agencies Sunday. Both sides said they first met on the set of a music video shoot and began dating around June.