"We will exercise extra caution in creating content": HYBE's Trainee A team and Leo apologize for misogynistic lyrics

HYBE’s Trainee A production team and trainee Leo have finally issued statements of apology, after Leo was called out for having misogynistic rap lyrics.

Best known for being one of the backup dancers for BTS’s Permission to Dance music video, Leo is part of HYBE's Trainee A group, who are rumored to be making their debut in 2022.

Trainee A, on their official YouTube channel, released a series of videos of the members participating in rap battles. Among them, the one featuring Leo, titled Showdown received enormous flak for some alarming lyrics.

The lyrics were written by the Australian-Korean rapper himself, and included phrases such as

“ain’t nobody gon tell me why that b*tch stopped breathing/f*ck that h*e in my bank/yeah that sh*t stopped breathing/tell that b*tch/took that b*tch to the store/ain’t nobody gon tell me why that b*tch stopped breathing.”

Understandably, viewers were not pleased, and called out Leo for being offensive and misogynistic.

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Trainee A apologizes for Leo's rap lyrics

On December 29, the production team for Trainee A posted an official apology on their YouTube account, in both Korean and English, expressing their regrets. They also deleted the objectionable video.

This is the Trainee A Content Production Team. We would like to express our deepest apologies regarding the inappropriate lyrics in “Leo’s SHOWDOWN” video uploaded on the Trainee A YouTube channel in October.

We sincerely apologize for failing to recognize the seriousness of the issue and releasing a video with inappropriate content. After having recognized the issue, we have decided to delete the video.

We would also like to apologize to everyone to whom we caused pain and distress due to the lyrics in question. We will exercise extra caution in creating content.

The team also assured netizens that they would be making sure that all trainees, including Leo, have a deeper understanding of diversity and respect.

We will exercise vigilance to ensure that every trainee including Leo fully understands the issues related to diversity and respect so that they can be more mindful of their actions and words.

We will also make sure to be more attentive to your advice and we will continue to strive to create better content.We would like to apologize once again to everyone who may have felt pain and distress by the Trainee A video.

Trainee A Production team also posted a formal apology from Leo himself, which said,

I would like to sincerely apologize to everyone who has been offended by the lyrics released on the first episode of SHOWDOWN.

As it was a competition, I felt as though I needed to use more provocative words and expressions in order to make an impact. This ultimately led me to make an extremely poor decision in which I feel great embarrassment over. I had absolutely no intention to offend or degrade anyone but my words and thoughts were very immature and I deeply apologize.

I’ve been endlessly reflecting on my mistakes, and after rewatching the video, I’m feeling extremely embarrassed and ashamed of my performance. Although I can’t take it back, I am aware that this was entirely my fault and will strive to do whatever it takes to reflect and learn from my mistakes.

Once again, to everyone who may have felt offended by my inappropriate actions and words, I sincerely apologize. I will take this opportunity to reflect and think of more positive and mature ways to express myself through my music.

The public reaction to the apologies so far has been mixed. While some accepted it as a sign of accountability, many others are still not pleased.

The group Trainee A is speculated to make their debut in 2022.