Full Transcript of The Stray Kids Comeback Guide Team Statement
PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM THE STRAY KIDS COMEBACK GUIDE TEAM
Warning: This is another long post that many will skip, but we encourage those who care to read it in full.
In recent weeks, our team has been the target of sustained and coordinated harassment, misinformation campaigns, and personal attacks—many of which date back to the beginning of February. This is not the first time it has happened, but the scale and hostility of these attacks are escalating, and they demand a direct response.
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Let us be clear: We will not entertain baseless accusations, personal insults, or fabricated narratives intended to dismantle the work we do for STAY or Stray Kids.
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Many believe that the work we do is not needed—that there are other bases who provide ‘better’ resources. If that were the case, our team never would have formed in the first place, and many STAYs would not look to us for answers when others remained silent.
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Our website is now offline, and we have made the decision to remove all public resources for the time being.
We encourage STAYs to explore the fandom and seek out platforms and teams that continue to offer meaningful support—those that provide streaming guides backed by verified research and openly share the sources and data used to support and corroborate the information they provide.
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Look for teams that offer accurate, detailed, and up-to-date guidance for Korean streaming, as well as active participation in large-scale voting efforts. Prioritize platforms that support global accessibility through multilingual resources, function as centralized hubs of cross-platform information, and remain responsive to the fandom’s needs through transparent testing and open feedback channels.
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We also urge STAYs to find resources other than our site and team that offer in-depth insights into charting, teams who maintain complete and regularly updated retailer lists for tracking key metrics on billboard and other music charts simultaneously, and consistently refresh playlists across all major streaming platforms. Look for active bases that provide this level of information across multiple social media platforms; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, and TikTok are essential for staying informed and effectively supporting Stray Kids. Do you see an active presence on those platforms where STAYs are lost looking for information?
While we have teams that provide pieces of what we do, their focus stops at a certain point—ours does not. It’s vast, and we strive to back up some of the respected teams and have done so since our inception.
If STAYs can confidently point to another resource that fulfills all of these functions with accuracy, consistency, and transparency—our website will remain offline, and our team will permanently shut down. We say this with full confidence because we know those resources do not exist. If they did, we wouldn’t have had to fight this hard to provide them ourselves. But the fandom deserves a chance to and then to decide that on its own.
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Regarding Accusations and Misinformation
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What has been presented is not proof, but a pattern: anonymous hearsay and speculative claims passed off as fact. This is not accountability. It is defamation and harassment.
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We acknowledge that disagreement within fandoms is inevitable. But this has escalated into targeted, coordinated harassment—laced with ageism, sexism, and, most recently, violent threats of physical harm if our team members attend a Stray Kids concert. The effort to dehumanize those behind this fanbase is deeply disturbing and mirrors the very behavior we see directed at Stray Kids themselves. That parallel should concern everyone.
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We know mistakes happen. We are human. But turning mistakes into justification for coordinated harassment is unacceptable and has crossed the line into illegal at this point. Accountability must be grounded in facts—not mob pressure and threats.
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The wave of accusations against the Stray Kids Comeback Guide Team reflects a clear echo chamber effect, where the same claims—many unverifiable or rooted in personal bias—are repeated verbatim or slightly reworded across multiple accounts. This repetition creates the illusion of widespread consensus, when in reality, it is a small group of individuals amplifying each other to manufacture credibility. As these narratives circulate unchecked, they gain traction not through evidence but through volume, effectively drowning out nuance and discouraging critical thinking. More concerning is how this echo chamber silences any attempts to provide evidence that contradicts their claims; responses rooted in fact are ignored, mocked, or reframed as manipulative, ensuring that only one version of the narrative is allowed to survive.
When this kind of targeted harassment is aimed at Stray Kids, the fandom rallies to defend them and demand accountability. So why is it, when this same behavior is directed at STAYs—fellow fans who stand beside you, contribute to the community, and fight for the same goals—it’s tolerated, ignored, or accepted without question? We have organized protection teams in place to protect Stray Kids but who protects us from each other?
Regarding Union Participation and Streaming Tests
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We were not removed from the SKZ Fanbase Union. We voluntarily stepped away—not because we tried to take over or refused to follow rules, but because compliance with specific restrictions made it impossible to serve STAY with full transparency. Our formal exit letter is attached to this statement.
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We have always spoken out on issues impacting the fandom—consistently vocal, persistent, and unafraid to challenge the Union and its bases when necessary. Through research, we advocated for the responsible use of hashtags, promoted ethical streaming through transparent testing, called for unity behind principled strategies, and pushed back when OT8 bases were pressured or threatened by member-focused accounts. Our stance made some uncomfortable and angered others, but remaining silent would have been far worse.
In the past we were pressured to remove our streaming test results with the promise of official, large-scale testing that never occurred. In return, we were shown well-designed PowerPoint presentations that did not include verifiable data; meanwhile our data that was presented with clear proof and backed by recordings and information directly from platforms was ignored. Out of respect for the Union and its potential, we complied. But as more incidents of bias and favoritism surfaced resulting in consistent bullying not just of us but other teams, it became clear that remaining in the Union would cause more harm than good—for us and others.
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We were pressured to remove several posts during the year we were in the Union, and we complied every time—except once. The exception was a post we made in February of this year, which did not violate any Union rules. We refused to be bullied into silence on an issue we had been fighting for over a year.
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We have repeatedly stated our intent to continue testing, and now that we are not governed by Union rules, we can release the results publicly. Recently, we announced our upcoming YouTube streaming study, where we shared that we implemented tracking tools to gather meaningful and comparable data. It is no coincidence that the resurgence of false narratives and defamation is coming from the accounts that are members of the same base that previously attempted to discredit our work and bullied us in the past. This is a calculated effort to undermine our credibility before our findings can be released or to shut down our team before we can officially begin.
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Some fear our results because they challenge long-held unfounded claims. If our work unilaterally disproves their methods, their influence diminishes—and that loss of control is the real threat.
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Regarding Blocking and Accusations of “Avoidance”
Blocking hate accounts is not avoidance or an admission of guilt. It is a necessary step to prioritize the mental health and safety of our team members. We will not apologize for protecting our team from slander, psychological harm, or threats of physical violence—especially threats targeting us should we attend a Stray Kids concert.
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We have never revealed the identities of any admin—even when it would have benefited us to do so. We believe in privacy, professionalism, and consistency. Demands to "unmask" our team are not rooted in accountability, but in power and control.
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What’s more alarming is how a group of accounts has turned being blocked by @SKZCBGuide into a performative game or badge of honor. These individuals now circulate graphics like the one shown above—mock “membership cards” designed to celebrate being blocked by us. These cards include exaggerated claims and jokes, even directing people to anti-guide sites and encouraging harassment under the guise of satire. It’s not just immature—it’s dangerous. It rewards harmful behavior, encourages more people to provoke us deliberately for clout, and desensitizes the fandom to the real consequences of sustained online targeting. It is digit This is not fandom culture.al mob behavior thinly veiled as entertainment.
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Despite this, we remain committed to protecting the rights of fanbase admins to work without fear of doxing, coordinated pile-ons, or harassment. We have always prided ourselves on not compromising our principles—even when others refuse to uphold the same standards. We have operated with integrity, even when that integrity has not been reciprocated.
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Even now, while facing unwarranted hostility, we observe how certain bases have treated us—how they've ignored the times we supported them, defended them, or stood beside them both publicly and privately. Despite their silence, we continue to choose not to retaliate or expose their teams. We do this not out of weakness, but because we do not want to add to the harm or psychological toll many teams already face.
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We have protected others’ identities, but if necessary, we will defend ourselves with clear, unaltered, and verifiable evidence—proof of what has occurred behind the scenes that many STAYs remain unaware of. We don’t rely on rumors. Just like our research is supported by sound data and reliable sources, any defense we issue moving forward will meet the same standard: undeniable, well-documented, and rooted in fact.
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This is not a threat. It is a reminder that our reputation is built on dealing in facts, and clear evidence is factual. That will not change; our hesitancy to do so has been rooted in concerns that revealing everything would only cause serious, irreparable harm to the fandom, therefore hindering Stray Kids’ future success because of a broken fandom. It would be impossible to fulfill our commitment to a better-informed fandom while also being the source of information that causes it to break.
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But make no mistake: our silence is a choice, not a vulnerability or a weakness. We will not allow our moral code to be weaponized against us.
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Regarding the Alleged “Admin in Question” and Proof
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Much of the hate we receive stems from personal vendettas against one individual—based on rumors, twisted history, and old fandom politics.
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We will not confirm or deny the role of any specific person on our team. Doing so would set a dangerous precedent that no other base is expected to follow.
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Demands to ‘unmask’ or remove a team member are not about justice—they are about control, power, exposure, and public humiliation. We will not allow any outside party to “investigate” our private servers, access our systems, or violate our team’s privacy to satisfy public suspicion. We cannot grant access to our website under those terms. The repercussions of doing so—and the risk of allowing individuals who seek to harm STAYs and Stray Kids to compromise the site—pose a serious and unacceptable threat. If one fanbase is expected to unmask its team, then that standard must be applied universally. Most fanbases operate anonymously, and while some admins become known through natural collaboration, we have never revealed anyone’s identity—even when doing so would have shifted public perception in our favor.
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Anonymity is the standard across all fanbases. Either change it fandom-wide or bring real evidence with your accusations. If one team is forced to reveal its full staff, then all fanbases must follow. Are you ready for that?
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Our Teams Values and Moving Forward
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We stand unwaveringly for OT8 support without exception. We do not cave to sub fandoms that believe we should divert attention and resources to a single member. We stand for fact based research over fear mongering. and for fandom-wide transparency rather than hidden agendas. We refuse to "get in line"merely to preserve a false peace built on forced compliance, and we will not apologize for standing up for what we believe is right. We will not stay silent while being scapegoated for daring to challenge the status quo, because our goal has never been to divide this community—even when others seem intent on doing so.
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We remain open to respectful, fact-based dialogue. To date, not one base or individual accusing us has contacted us privately to discuss the claims they’ve circulated publicly, not even when we were in the union did those who disagreed with us try to handle matters privately and respectfully.
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To the STAYs who still believe in our mission—thank you. You are the reason we’ve endured. But we are genuinely uncertain about the future. We see your posts asking us to stay strong. We hope, if we can continue, we see a similar response when we ask for help expanding the team so that we can be stronger in our commitment to provide resources for STAYs. The emotional toll on our team is real, and we are actively discussing how to move forward while safeguarding our well-being and still showing up for you and for Stray Kids. Sadly we can not make a statement at this time that will stop your worries about us leaving. For that, we are truly sorry, we won’t make you a promise we don’t know that we can keep.
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To those who are committed to our downfall—know this: You may succeed in destroying us, but the root problems you blame us for will still remain. Then there will be no one to blame but yourselves.
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To the other fanbases—those who speak up and those who choose to remain silent: We hope that you remember why you all started and the guidelines we all prided ourselves on that reflected Stray Kids own moral compass. We hope you move forward with a renewed sense of obligation of what’s right. The fandom’s future depends on what you choose to do next, even choosing to do nothing is a choice.
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We are not here for attention.
We are not here for power.
We are not the problem.
We are not the enemy and we are not the villains in your story.
We are just STAYs.
We are here to unlock resources for you and to fight for Stray Kids.
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If people took a moment to look back through our work, they would see that it has always reflected our unwavering commitment to OT8. In contrast, when we look back at the accounts now causing so much harm, we can’t help but ask—why are you even here?
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To those who stayed till the end; Thank You.
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Sincerely,
The Stray Kids Comeback Guide Team