Former One Direction member Liam Payne received criticism for making a discriminatory statement against the popularity of Kpop.
On the podcast “Impulsive with Logan Paul”, Liam Payne appeared as a guest and freely discussed the behind stories of One Direction, including the controversies between Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid. The singer also sparked controversies for throwing shades at Justin Bieber and making mocking comments about other artists, including a certain Kpop boy group.
In particular, Logan Paul commented that Liam Payne had been “part of One Direction, probably the biggest boy band of all time and has yet to be replicated…besides the Kpop thing.” To which Liam Payne responded, “I think some of the Kpop bands have kind of reignited the thing. I mean obviously, we have 5 Seconds Of Summer as well, that did pretty well.”
While both never mentioned BTS, the wording rubbed ARMYs (fans of BTS) the wrong way, who retorted by saying that BTS is at the moment, bigger than One Direction, and not just “the Kpop thing”. These fans also brought up BTS’s various achievements and expressed their dissatisfaction that the group was undermined.
Adding to this, this episode of the podcast “Impulsive with Logan Paul”, was held during the same time BTS gave a speech on Asian hatred at the White House, leading to beliefs that Liam and Logan’s comments might be discriminatory. For now, the two’s statements are still under fire from Kpop fans, especially ARMYs.
Source: Billboard
