SM Idol’s “Horrendous” Vocals Hit With Viral Backlash After “N-Word” Scandal

RIIZE‘s Eunseok is in hot water after using a racial slur in a now-deleted post on a fan chatting platform.

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Eunseok shared childhood photos of himself to celebrate Children’s Day in Korea on May 5, a common tradition among K-Pop idols.

However, it all went wrong when he described the photos using the term “kk*mdoongie,” an offensive Korean slur used to degrade people with darker skin. It’s widely compared to the n-word in English.

Top Idol Calls Himself “The N-Word” In Now-Deleted Message, Sparking Criticism

The backlash was immediate. But it didn’t stop at the racist post.

| SM Entertainment

Attention quickly shifted to Eunseok’s skills as an idol, with netizens digging up a clip of him covering IU’s “Palette.” The video exploded on X, racking up over 250,000 views… and not for good reasons.

no time for vocal lessons but time to be saying the n word mkay pic.twitter.com/1X1iNVnqeT

— leah ᕱ⑅ᕱ (@kaashikvlt) May 5, 2026

Many tore into his vocals, and the pile-on didn’t stop there. His dancing, his looks, and even his place in RIIZE were all put under the microscope, with many questioning how he debuted in the first place.

wow this is horrendous, it’s quite impressive being an idol for a 4 years and still sounding like this

— lila ♡₊˚ ・₊ ♪ ✧ (@esnylila) May 5, 2026

the real def of a filler member from his botched face to his presence in the group https://t.co/HrzfoEPwBM

— æ🅱️ #GLOW (@jenf4tties) May 5, 2026

Cant hit those notes but can hit those characters on tht keyboard 😭😭im SICK

— Benny (@minasai2020) May 5, 2026

Can’t sing, can’t rap, can’t dance, addicted to Botox, useless, can’t move his face, unpopular, irrelevant, the list goes on https://t.co/f4R4RVP1ln

— 🫧 (@hshaes) May 5, 2026

Eunseok has since addressed the controversy.

RIIZE Member Directly Responds To Now-Deleted Racist Message

What started as a Children’s Day post has turned into one of the messiest controversies the group has seen yet.