Rain apologises to fan with hearing loss after calling her out for not dancing at his concert
Lim Ruey Yan
The Straits Times
Jan 21, 2026
K-pop star Rain has apologised for a misunderstanding that involved a fan who is hard of hearing at his recent concert in Taipei, Taiwan. The 43-year-old, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, held his Still Raining: Encore show at the Taipei Arena on Jan 17.
The female fan, known only as Chichi on social media platform Threads, recounted on Jan 19 what happened at the gig.
Chichi and her two friends were standing near the stage when Rain noticed she did not follow the dance moves during his energetic performance of his hit track La Song (2014), according to a video clip she posted on Threads.
He asked her in Korean why she was not dancing, which was translated into Chinese by an interpreter.
"I'm here to turn myself in after I was called out by Rain," she wrote in Chinese on Jan 19. "It was not that I didn't want to dance. I couldn't understand what Rain and the interpreter were saying. I require lip-reading or real-time subtitles, as I am hard of hearing."
The netizen said she sang her heart out the first time, but Rain stomped his foot and asked her to do it again, making the "up up" gesture. She thought he wanted her to sing higher and said "sorry" to him, while pointing to her ear at the same time.
"Looking back, why didn't I just use sign language with Rain?" she wrote. "How embarrassing. I didn't want him to mistake me for a disobedient fan."
Chichi said she and her two friends are hard of hearing. "We have gone to Kaohsiung Music Center and Taipei Arena to show our support, even though we couldn't understand what Rain was saying," she said. "We love his dancing, and although he's usually funny, he is actually a very family-oriented man."
Rain is married to South Korean actress Kim Tae-hee, 45, and they have two daughters aged eight and six.
Chichi said it was her birthday on Jan 19, and had hoped Rain would be able to see her post after tagging him. The post went viral on social media, and he responded on Jan 20.
"Hello. It's so nice to have met you," he wrote in traditional Chinese. "First, I'm truly sorry I didn't realise you couldn't hear. I wasn't considerate enough and didn't think things through."
Wishing her a happy birthday, he added: "Although this little incident happened, it's given us a wonderful memory. This experience has also made me realise I need to be more attentive in all aspects of my future performances."
He also thanked Chichi for attending his concert, saying: "Even though we couldn't hear or understand each other on stage, I saw the warmth in your eyes and the genuine encouragement and sincerity shining through your expression."
Rain was recently in Singapore to perform at the Singland Festival at Marina Bay Sands on Dec 31, when he expressed his disappointment at the crowd for their low energy.
Following his set, a netizen uploaded a video on TikTok showing Rain telling the fans gathered that they were too quiet.
"Why are you doing this?" he said in the video. "If you're this quiet, we can't have fun. Are you really going to party like this?"
In another clip, Rain repeatedly tried to hype up the audience by saying "Are you ready?", before shaking his head. "I think you don't have responsibility," he said.
