An Australian current affairs program broadcasting edited to distort and disparage the appearance of BTS members, sparking controversy over racism.
On the 4th (local time), the Australian news network program "The Project" posted a video on its official social networking service (SNS) on social media reporting the scene of the 64th Grammy Awards held a day ago in the U.S.
The video showed several artists attending the awards ceremony. It also features BTS, who attended the awards ceremony and performed on the stage.
With the advent of BTS, the broadcaster said, "The K-pop sensation BTS has appeared. I recently left my struggle with COVID-19 behind," he said. He mentioned the fact that BTS members were recently diagnosed with COVID-19.
At the same time, a member V gathered his hands in a circle and brought them to his mouth to cheer the artist on stage, and the broadcaster synthesized CG as if V was coughing while exhaling the COVID-19 virus. He also added a cough.
BTS recently confirmed members J-Hope and Jungkook, but both were diagnosed with complete recovery and attended the awards ceremony according to the organizers' quarantine rules. Member V was also diagnosed with COVID-19 a few months ago, but netizens were angry at the fact that he was cured a long time ago and that no BTS member was infected with COVID-19 at the time of attending the awards ceremony.
In particular, it was argued that the broadcaster was criticized for not simply trying to convey the news of BTS's COVID-19 confirmation, but that it contained a racist view of Asians as a source of COVID-19. Strong protests continued with the broadcaster around SNS, followed by reports to the video.
Since then, "The Project" has deleted the video due to growing controversy, but has not revealed its position in this regard. Fans are demanding an official apology from the broadcaster.
BTS's racist attitude toward them has often been controversial as the frequency of overseas activities has increased and significant achievements have been made. In particular, in Australia, a news program also caused controversy in 2019 by making racist remarks against BTS. At that time, the cast of the news program "Twenty to One" on the Australian media "Channel 9" mocked BTS and made racist remarks that there was only one member who could speak English, causing public outrage among fans.
BTS has officially demonstrated good influence by voicing opposition to racism toward Asians. In particular, he publicly expressed his position on Asian hate crimes in the West after the pandemic, saying, "As Asians, we cannot think separately from our identity. We are against racism. I am against violence." Nevertheless, similar controversies continue to arise.
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