BIBI Responds to Waterbomb Controversy With One Unbreakable Performance Rule

BIBI went on the record about her Waterbomb Seoul 2026 performance, and the controversy that followed, through a teaser clip released on the SBS official YouTube channel on the 21st, offering the clearest look yet at how she thinks about the stage.

Speaking in the preview for the new SBS variety show Mueotideun Haejulzini: Biseojin (roughly, I'll Do Anything: Secretary Corps), BIBI laid out what she calls her core performance philosophy: "I have a principle about performing. I will absolutely make every person who paid to come in happy." She added that she treated the Waterbomb set like a final show, preparing for it three months in advance.

The controversy

The Waterbomb performance in question took place on July 25 at KINTEX in Goyang, Ilsan, during Waterbomb Seoul 2026. Video from the set circulated online after the event and drew split reactions: some viewers celebrated the performance as bold and committed, while others argued that certain moments, including a choreographed sequence where BIBI knelt on stage and unzipped her jumpsuit while surrounded by male dancers, and another where she held a microphone being extended by a male dancer, crossed into provocative territory. The criticism spread across Korean online communities in the weeks that followed.

BIBI has not directly disputed that reading of the performance, but her statement in the teaser positions the choices as deliberate and audience-focused rather than gratuitous. Three months of preparation for a single festival slot is a significant investment, and the framing suggests she considers the spectacle itself part of the service she owes her audience.

What happens in the show

Biseojin is built around actors Lee Seo-jin and Kim Kwang-kyu serving as personal assistants to celebrity 'stars' for a day. BIBI is the first guest of the new season. The teaser shows both men traveling to the Waterbomb venue to watch her perform from the audience section, both wearing padded "fake muscle" tank tops that immediately drew attention from the crowd.

Kim Kwang-kyu's reaction to being caught in the water gun crossfire became one of the lighter moments in the clip. "People I didn't even know started shooting water guns at me," he said, visibly surprised. "When I was young, splashing water with a basin was about the extent of it." In a move the teaser frames as classic resourcefulness, he spotted an umbrella on the ground and shared it with Lee Seo-jin, the two standing side by side under it in the middle of one of Korea's biggest outdoor music festivals, which the show plays as a gently comedic contrast.

After the performance, both men returned to BIBI's side for the behind-the-scenes care segment the show is built around. Lee Seo-jin called her "truly remarkable, the goddess of Waterbomb," and Kim Kwang-kyu added, "She's the real deal. A true professional."

Mueotideun Haejulzini: Biseojin premieres on SBS on the 28th at 11:10 p.m. KST.