BTS: The Chase star Anne Hegerty condemned by fans after describing group as 'a little Korean boy band that’s not important'
Globally successful boy band recently delivered a speech at the UN
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Your support makes all the difference.The Chase star Anne Hegerty has been condemned by fans of record-breaking K-pop band BTS after posting a dismissive social media post about them.
On Twitter, Hegerty (who is known on The Chase as “The Governess”) described BTS as “a little Korean boy band that’s fundamentally not important”.
She made the comments in response to a tweet from The Economist senoir editor Anne McElvoy, who had written “Please no” in response to news that the band had spoken at the 75th UN General Assembly.
McElvoy later apologised for her remarks, writing: “My earlier tweet about BTS was in jest and I’m sorry it was taken the wrong way. Apologies.”
It was this which prompted Hegerty’s response, as she asked: “All this about a little Korean boy band that’s fundamentally not important?”
BTS are the best-selling music artists in Korean history, and retain a strong following worldwide.
Their most-viewed music video, for the 2017 single “DNA”, has accumulated more than one billion views on YouTube, with others coming close.
Their recent single “Dynamite” broke YouTube records for most concurrent viewers, and rose to No 1 in the US, peaking at No 3 in the UK.
BTS fans were quick to defend the band from Hegerty’s remarks on social media.
“BTS, the ‘little Korean boy band’, were speaking for the second time at the UN sharing a message of hope & care to people all over the world, including their multi-millions of fans,” wrote one Twitter user.
“What is fundamentally not important about that?”
Someone else wrote: “Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean that it’s not important to someone else...in this case, millions of people across generations, cultures and genders worldwide. To dismiss them is to open yourself up to this type of scrutiny.”
Another wrote: “Hi Anne, not to call you out but hoping I can call you into these conversations. I don’t believe in cancelling folx but I do believe in correcting. This ‘little’ Korean boy band is fundamentally important in so many ways. First and foremost: they’re representing Asian men.”
“And finally showing the world how Asian men can be sexy, aspirational, inspirational, beautiful, fierce, talented and more. For you to dismiss them and say ‘little’ is not only a microaggression but is actually racist. Please use your words carefully.”
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