9 Celebrities And Public Figures Who Dissed BTS

They found themselves in hot water for alleged xenophobia, racism, and more.

Over the years, BTS has dealt with discrimination and hate, even from fellow public figures and celebrities. Here are 9 of the people who came under fire for disrespecting the group.

BTS | @bts_bighit/Twitter

1. Joe Budden

This American media personality and former rapper faced backlash after he claimed to hate BTS for no reason in particular.

Joe Budden | @joebudden/Instagram

While discussing the 2022 GRAMMY Awards on The Joe Budden Podcast, Budden said, “I hate them BTS n***as.” His reason? “I don’t want to see it.” Budden also referred to BTS as a group from China rather than South Korea.

| VH1

I don’t want to hear that s**t. I don’t want to see them dance moves. I don’t want to see you come down from the sky in a little umbrella. I don’t want to see your four f***ing codies come from the audience and then link up like Voltron to do all of the 98 Degrees moves. I don’t want to see none of that s**t. I don’t want to see it. I know they big, I know it’s China, I don’t want to see it.

— Joe Budden

Unsurprisingly, Budden’s heated remarks landed him in boiling hot water with BTS’s fan ARMY.

Rather than apologizing, Budden doubled down and dismissed ARMY’s ire.

2 & 3. Liam Payne and Logan Paul

Liam Payne, a former member of the boyband One Direction, came under fire for allegedly downplaying BTS’s success.

Liam Payne

After guesting on Episode 328 of YouTuber Logan Paul‘s IMPAULSIVE podcast, he received criticism from listeners for his remarks about other artists. This included BTS and his own former bandmate, Zayn Malik.

Furthermore, Logan Paul claimed that One Direction was the “biggest boy band of all time,” downplaying the achievements of major acts like BTS.

You had such as fast and global come up. So, you’re a part of One Direction, probably the biggest boy band of all time and has yet to be replicated…

— Logan Paul

Payne stated that K-Pop groups have “kind of reignited” the popularity of boybands and girlbands but mentioned none by name.

Yeah, I think some of the K-Pop bands have kind of reignited the thing. I mean, obviously, we have 5 Seconds of Summer as well. That did pretty well.

— Liam Payne

4. Tucker Carlson

BTS met with President Joe Biden at The White House to discuss racial discrimination, anti-Asian hate crimes, and more. While the overwhelming majority of reactions to BTS’s visit were positive, not everyone was a fan.

BTS with President Joe Biden | @bts_bighit/Twitter

American TV host Tucker Carlson came under fire for allegedly disrespecting BTS on his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight. 

Things have gotten very bad for Joe Biden, both public-facing and internally. What are they doing about it? Well, they broke glass in case of emergency and invited a Korean pop group to speak at the White House today…

Yeah, so we got a Korean pop group to discuss anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States. Okay. Good job, guys.

— Tucker Carlson

As a result, ARMY called out Tucker Carlson for his remarks and explained the importance of BTS’s involvement.

5. Andy Biggs

Tucker Carlson isn’t the only public figure accused of shading BTS’s White House visit. Following The White House press briefing, American politician Andy Biggs tweeted an opinion that fans have called out for being shady.

As fans pointed out, BTS didn’t fly across the world to do his job for him.

 

6. The hosts of Mi Barrio

Chilean comedy TV show Mi Barrio found itself in hot water for making racist and xenophobic jokes about BTS. During a skit, BTS’s members were compared to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Additionally, the actors playing BTS mocked the Korean language by imitating it with gibberish.

Host: Introduce yourself!

Person 1: Kim Jong-Un(o)*

Person 2: Kim Jong-Two

Person 3: Kim Jong-Three

Person 4: Kim Jong-Four

Person 5: Juan Carlos!

*The name of North Korea’s dictator + number one (uno)

— translation credits to @BTS_Chile on Twitter

Fans used the hashtag #ElRacismoNoEsComedia to bring attention to the situation, calling for an apology on BTS’s behalf.

In reply, Mi Barrio posted this message on their Instagram account.

Thank you everyone for the good vibes! We’ll continue improving, learning, listening, and we’ll remain firm in our intention: to bring fun to families. We collect all positive comments and also the critics, because that’s what we’re for: contribute a little with humor and fun.

— translation credits to @BTS_Chile on Twitter

7. Mehrad Hidden

This Iranian rapper was accused of stealing BTS’s shield logo and insulting the group with racist and homophobic jokes.

Hidden’s logo | @mehradhidden/Instagram

Hidden replied to the plagiarism accusations with these Instagram stories.

who are these f****ts?

— Hidden’s story caption

A post his fan tagged him in. | @outnoise/Instagram

After receiving an intense wave of backlash from ARMY, Hidden deleted his original Instagram post.

Another of many posts he is tagged in. | @zakhar_baziiii/Instagram

8. Matthias Matuschik

German radio host Matthias Matuschik from radio station BAYERN 3 compared BTS to COVID-19 while on air.

Matthias Matuschik | @MMatuschik/Twitter

Both ARMY and the action group against anti-Asian discrimination in Germany tweeted about the situation, to which Matthias snarkily replied.

9. Jimmy Kimmel

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has come under fire more than once for making BTS the butt of his jokes. Just a week after comparing BTS fever” to COVID-19, Jimmy Kimmel allegedly shaded BTS during his opening monologue about the Omnicron variant.

Jimmy Kimmel | Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

You know, these variants, all the different variants, remind me of the boy bands in the late 90s and the early 2000s. You know, you had the big ones, like Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and then that mutated into O-Town and 98 Degrees. And we had the Jonas Brothers popped up, Big Time Rush. They kept splitting off in different directions, eventually One Direction. And they took pieces, and it popped up all over the world, until eventually we get to one that’s so contagious it destroys all life on earth.

— Jimmy Kimmel

On Twitter, fans accused Kimmel of racism and xenophobia, many slamming his “comedy.”

 

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