She got savagely cancelled after Singles Inferno, so what actually happened to Song Ji-a?!
Her actions enraged South Korea, apparently
Song Ji-a, or ‘FreeZia’ for anyone who follows her on Instagram or YouTube, didn’t just appear on Netflix’s Single’s Inferno, she basically hijacked the whole global conversation.
One minute, she was the show’s icy-hot fashion queen with a perfectly curated rich girl aura. And, the next, she was trending for a totally different reason.
If you watched her season and then blinked, you might’ve missed the whiplash. Song Ji-a had her brand deals paused, TV edits happened, and her socials went into lockdown mode.
So… what actually happened after the finale, and where did she go from there? Let’s unpack it…
Song Ji-a was a major star of Single’s Inferno
When Single’s Inferno season one dropped back in 2021, Song Ji-a quickly became the breakout star.
Her whole vibe, luxury looks, super-controlled expressions, and that “I know I’m the moment” confidence, was tailor-made for reality TV obsession.
She already had a beauty YouTube presence pre-show, but Netflix exposure sent her into a whole new stratosphere internationally.
And it wasn’t just that people liked her. She became the reference point for the franchise… later seasons still get compared to her impact, because she set the template for the “unbothered it-girl contestant” everyone talks about.
Basically, she’s iconic.
She got savagely cancelled
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The whole Song Ji-a scandal hit fast in January 2022.
Online sleuths began pointing out that several luxury items Song Ji-a wore, both on and off Single’s Inferno, appeared to be fake, per The Korea Herald.
Because her entire public image leaned heavily on high-end fashion and “chaebol-adjacent” vibes, the backlash was immediate and intense.
At the time, the BBC reported: “She was cancelled for wearing fake designer clothes – barely considered a sin in the West, but it destroyed Song Ji-a’s career in her homeland.”
Single’s Inferno Song Ji-a’s apology
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Song Ji-a soon released a public apology, admitting that she had worn fake designer items and acknowledging responsibility for disappointing viewers and brands alike.
Hypebae reported: “…Song finally addressed the comments and confirmed that she did in fact wear counterfeit designer products…”
Her apology letter read: “Some of the comments currently being made about the fake designer products I wore on social media and on Single’s Inferno are true. I’m really sorry.
“I apologize once again for any situation caused by the infringement of the designers’ creations and ignorance of copyright. As a person with a dream of launching a brand, I will seriously recognise the controversy and reflect deeply.”
She also reportedly said that she “deeply regretted her actions” and called herself “pathetic,” a week after her first apology.
The fallout snowballed quickly. Song Ji-a said she removed content featuring the disputed items and also apologised directly to the luxury houses involved.
Around the same time, she dramatically scaled back her online presence, with her social media activity becoming limited and her YouTube channel wiped of previous uploads.
Meanwhile, the entertainment industry responded just as harshly.
Reports suggested that South Korean TV shows edited her out of scheduled appearances, effectively freezing her out during the height of the backlash.
BBC reported: “Korean TV shows began editing out her cameos. And her celebrity friends, other actors and influencers, deleted their own Instagram pictures showing them hanging out with Ji-a.”
What made the situation even bigger than a typical influencer scandal was the wider cultural conversation it tapped into.
Commentators noted that Song Ji-a became a lightning rod for public frustration around wealth signalling, “fake rich” aesthetics, and inequality, turning her into a symbol of something much larger than herself.
These days, she’s still repping 4.6 million Instagram followers and around a million on a new-looking YouTube channel.
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