"Tired of the western industry disrespecting fans": Jimmy Kimmel invites ire online by referring to K-pop group BLACKPINK fans as 'kids'

Late-night television show host Jimmy Kimmel came under fire on social media for allegedly disrespecting the K-pop group BLACKPINK.

The American show host, while introducing the K-pop giants BLACKPINK, referred to their fans as "kids". He said,

"This is the reason that all the kids are excited. From this album titled Born Pink, here's the song Shut Down by BLACKPINK."

Fans of BLACKPINK immediately reacted to the line, calling out the talk-show host for disrespecting the K-pop group. It is widely known that K-pop groups fans are composed of all age groups and therefore, did not take kindly to being called "kids" for their music choices.

Fans felt belittled and insulted by the American host and have called him out for his hypocrisy by reminding everyone on Twitter that the massive album sales records created by K-pop groups could not have been dependent on 'kids'.

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K-pop groups fans did not react well being called "kids"

K-pop fans did not mince words while calling out the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host for his comment.

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This isn't the first time an American show host made uncomfortable comments on a K-pop group and their fans

Jimmy Kimmel is notorious for his sarcastic replies and dry humor and has become one of the most popular late night show hosts. However, the internet did not take kindly to him when he made a tongue-in-cheek comment on K-Pop juggernauts BTS and their fandom ARMY.

Back in January, the show invited Ashley Park from Emily in Paris where she talked about covering BTS’ hit song Dynamite on the show. To which Kimmel asked the actress if she faced any fallout for covering the BTS song. The late-night host further added that ARMYs "are absolutely crazed for these guys."

When Park made a reference to the fandom ARMY, Kimmel commented,

"Yeah, you have to be careful with an army because they can attack."

In another instance from the same interview, Ashley Park described her love for BTS and how she reacted when BTS members V and RM shared her cover of their song. She stated that she later realized that she had Covid at the time, and joked that she thought her body was going into a meltdown because of the group.

To this, Jimmy Kimmel added,

"You thought it was BTS fever. They're both very dangerous; you're lucky to come out of those alive."

Fans found the comment extremely racist, especially since Asians were blamed for the spread of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

In another instance, Billboard Magazine interviewed Stray Kids for a special feature and added unnecessary parts about the group's history. While referring to the group's sold-out crowd during their MANIAC world tour, they used the term 'teens and tweens' that invited the ire of netizens online.

Popular talk show host Trevor Noah too faced criticism for making a controversial statement on BTS' hiatus news.

"The band has decided to take a break. This is terrible. I feel like people would rather deal with their parents splitting up than BTS."

Angry fans pointed out that they didn't find his segment humorous and asked him to do more research since BTS' agency had clearly stated that the group is not breaking up. Trevor Noah also insulted the K-pop group P1HARMONY in the same segment by portraying the K-pop scene as some sort of competition for dominance.

In another instance, the show Good Morning America invited K-pop girl group TWICE to perform their first English single, The Feels. However, crew members of the show feigned ignorance by labeling the performance online as 'A special K-pop performance' instead of naming the popular K-pop group and the name of their hit single.

Host James Corden of The Late Late Show, who is considered to be a friend of BTS, was no exception when he called fans of BTS "15 year old girls" online.

ARMYs immediately called out the host for his insensitive remarks and he later apologized to BTS themselves for the same.

Western media has been rather quick to capitalize on the rise of K-pop and its popularity amongst fans globally, however, the due respect that needs to be accorded to the artists and their fan bases continues to be sidelined.

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In other news, BLACKPINK continues their victory dance as they shatter their own records. The girl group surpassed 1 million copies on the first day of sales of their new album BORN PINK.

This marks the first time any K-pop girl group has surpassed 1 million album sales on day 1 of release.

The number is currently 1.7 times more than the first day sales of BLACKPINK's previous studio album, The Album, on the first day.