SB19 Fans Slam 1Z Over Late Notice Of Stell’s Absence At Group Event: ‘Do Better, Please’
Just two days before SB19's appearance at the Asia Pacific Predator League 2024, 1Z Entertainment announced that member and main vocalist Stell would not be able to join his group due to a prior engagement, leading to the disappointment of A'TIN -- SB19 fans.
On Thursday, 1Z Entertainment, SB19's own company, released a statement, saying, "We would like to inform you that due to a prior engagement, SB19 member Stell will not be taking part in the group's activities from January 12-14, 2024."
SB19 was originally scheduled to perform the song "Ace Your World" at the Asia Pacific Predator League this weekend at the MOA Arena alongside Filipino superstar Sarah Geronimo.
Stell was previously expected to join his bandmates -- Pablo, Josh, Ken and Justin -- and Geronimo in headlining the first day of Acer's annual event. The artist lineup for the first day includes Urbandub, Al James and UPeepz. Interestingly, SB19's Ken, also known as Felip, will share an exciting collaboration stage with singer Ylona Garcia.
Meanwhile, SB19's Josh and Pablo will perform on the second day alongside other Filipino artists, such as KZ Tandingan, Sandwich, Franco, Spongecola, the Manila Symphony Orchestra and Daloy Dance Company.
With this sudden announcement and "late notice," some A'TIN, especially Stell-biased ones, were disappointed, and they took to X and Reddit to share their thoughts on the issue.
"Sorry, but this should have been announced earlier. There's no excuse this time for this late notice. I'm very disappointed," tweeted another.
"Prior engagement but promoted as SB19? That's why there were four individual [publication materials] except Stell's. I had a hunch but never thought... please make us understand because I don't get it," wrote someone else.
"'Due to a prior engagement' implies prior knowledge of Stell's unavailability. That made the last-minute announcement off, to say the least. I trust that exhaustive measures were [taken] for the quintet to be complete. Otherwise, the publicity was misleading at the onset," opined a fourth fan.
1Z Entertainment's late announcement was also the topic of discussion in an SB19 subreddit titled "Stell's absence: Predator League."
"[To be honest], I was also slightly annoyed when I saw it. I am a Stell bias, and I also planned to attend the Predator event. Fortunately, there was a conflict with my work, so I didn't go. If not, I would really be sad right now," one Reddit user commented.
"I really wish 1Z could do better. Their inexperience is showing, and it's starting to be a pattern. I hope they employ more competent and capable people on their team," the user added.
Another wrote, "This is downright unacceptable, 1Z. As an entity, they should have known what their group and individual members' schedules [are] prior to accepting engagement or double booking."
"And even if 1Z and the organizers for Predator League knew about this prior to agreeing to an arrangement, it is still misleading AND inconsiderate of them to promote as if all five [members] are going to make their appearance in the engagement," Reddit user @niklum continued.
While fans suggest that 1Z do better moving forward, they trust that Stell wouldn't be absent from an SB19 group event without a valid reason.
"Take care in Japan, @stellajero_. We will miss you, but we understand that it must be very important for you to miss this one. [I'm] staying positive," one fan tweeted.
This would be the first time for the P-Pop group to perform onstage sans one member since debuting in 2018 as a five-piece act under its former agency, ShowBT Philippines.