Many Korean stars, despite their worldwide popularity, are still treated unfairly while having abroad activities.
1. BLACKPINK’s Jennie
On October 3, Jennie was spotted going out after attending the Chanel fashion show in Paris as the brand’s official ambassador. However, she was stalked by several fans, and even called a “b*tch” when she initially not respond to their greetings and requests to take photos.
In the end, Jennie had to give in to their demands despite the fans’ disrespectful attitude.
At the event, Jennie greeted several celebrities, including actress Margaret Qualley. After a brief hug, Margaret Qualley touched Jennie’s hair and asked, “Is this your real hair?”
Then, when Jennie replied that it wasn’t, Qualley expressed her surprise, saying, “It looks real.”
As a result, some netizens criticized Qualley’s behavior as racially insensitive. Not only was it impolite to touch someone’s hair without permission, but asking a person of color if their blonde hair is real was seen as a racially discriminatory remark.
2. Singer, actress IU
IU attended the 75th Cannes International Film Festival with ‘Broker’, the first film in which the actress played the female lead. She was crashed on the shoulder on the red carpet by French influencer Maria Travel.
She bumped into IU’s shoulder so hard that IU’s body shook, and then passed without saying an apology.
As the controversy grew, Maria Travel tagged IU’s account on her Instagram story and said, “I’m so sorry for what happened on the red carpet yesterday,” adding, “I never meant to push you, I did it by mistake because security asked me to go faster, so I didn’t even realize it.”
Then, she released an absurd apology, saying, “I would really like to apologize to you and offer you my makeup. I’m a makeup artist and I came to Cannes from Paris for the film festival for work. I hope you will see my messages and answer to me.”
3. ITZY’s Yuna
Back in 2023, ITZY’s Yuna was disrespected when the girl group attended the KCON LA event.
The abrupt and disrespectful outburst from the fan was met with swift disapproval from both ITZY’s leader, Yeji, and the larger audience.
4. Actor Lee Seo-jin
As Youn Yuh Jung‘s temporary manager, actor Lee Seo Jin accompanied her to the Oscars award ceremony in Los Angeles, California. In “Unexpected Journey,” the two’s journey was summed up. The moment Lee Seo Jin handed a bag for star Jamie Lee Curtis was shown on the May 29 broadcast of the show.
After taking her photos, actress Jamie Lee Curtis approached Lee Seo Jin and took her bag from him, causing controversy. The word “thank you” appeared in the subtitles. However, many people thought that the actress did not express or show gratitude to Lee Seo Jin in the video. Many internet users expressed their displeasure with her behavior, calling it rude and even racist.
5. BTS V
Last April, BTS attended the ’64th Grammy Awards’ and had a great time putting on a great stage. The Australian media channel The Project then posted a video related to the 64th Grammy Awards on its official SNS. Notably, after BTS ended their “Butter” act, this media site inserted a coughing sound and virus-shaped CG into the scene where V was cheering and observing other singers from the audience seat.
After the video was released, angry fans protested against the broadcaster and asked them to apologize to BTS.
6. Actor Lee Jung-jae
Netizens got angry after hearing Steven Spielberg’s statement. They thought the director was too rude because Lee Jung-jae was already a top actor in Korea.
Source: Insight