SEVENTEEN’s fans angry over US locals' racist comments towards the K-pop group

SEVENTEEN
SEVENTEEN's Mingyu at a basketball court in San Francisco and the group replying to a local's DM (Images via Instagram/min9yu_k and Twitter/MultoSaPledis)

K-pop hitmaker SEVENTEEN was recently subjected to racist remarks, according to fans. The group is currently touring North America for their BE THE SUN world tour and was in Chicago, enjoying the local culture.

They were spotted playing basketball with locals, who fans claimed were high school students. Fans initially fawned over the members of the group playing with other locals, even commenting on how envious they were. Soon after, they were outraged to learn that the same people had made racist remarks about the K-pop group.

The alleged high-schoolers called SEVENTEEN “fake BTS,” “chinese BTS members,” and even called one member “namjoon.”These remarks were troubling because they imply that all K-pop idols look the same. Such hateful remarks reduce an individual's identity to a stereotypical, often derogatory connotation.

Additionally, one local even tagged his friends and said that they “touched their (SEVENTEEN members’) sweaty Korean bodies.” CARATs, who had been gushing over the Face the Sun creators after seeing them play, turned around and trashed the boys. They also created a template document with proof and requested that other fans mass-email PLEDIS Entertainment.


SEVENTEEN’s playful basketball game with US locals takes a negative turn

SEVENTEEN, who has sold multiple million albums and continues to wear the crown of the most versatile K-pop group, does not shy away from experiencing different cultures. While on their BE THE SUN world tour, talk in the CARAT fandom has been that the members play basketball with the locals and even offer them free concert tickets.

Mingyu, Seungkwan, The8, and a few other members, as well as some staff members, recently participated in a basketball game with some teenagers, which resulted in them being insulted. The first two even posted photos of themselves on the basketball court, which fans adored.

SEVENTEEN is not the best at sports, so it was not a surprise for fans that the locals beat the members. They joked that the K-pop idols had given them the "privilege of absolutely shitting on them."

The next batch of comments were the ones that angered fans.

CARATs called out xenophobia and racism in the comments and replies, but the locals insisted on calling the group members names and being hateful. SEVENTEEN were repeatedly referred to as "fake a** BTS knock offs" and "lowkey some dogs**t" by the high schoolers.

Fans were more infuriated when they found out that the K-pop group had replied to one of the local’s Instagram stories. The local posted a video of them playing on the basketball court and tagged the HOT group, to which the group replied:

“Yoo fun playing with you guys”
The story that the K-pop group replied to (Image via Twitter/MultoSaPledis)
The story that the K-pop group replied to (Image via Twitter/MultoSaPledis)

Fans took to Twitter to alert others about the locals' social media accounts, urging them to report and block them, while others mass-emailed PLEDIS Entertainment, urging them to take legal action in response to the racist abuse.

Some fans mentioned that the group would give out free concert tickets in order to foster camaraderie, though it was unclear whether the locals in question received them or not. The prospect of locals obtaining concert tickets for the Ready to Love group heightened their rage.

Fans can only hope that the SEVENTEEN members continue to enjoy the local culture and aren't subjected to hatred in any capacity in the future.

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Edited by Vinay Agrawal