SHINee’s Jonghyun apologizes after controversy over insensitive Indian Dancing Video
SHINee‘s Jonghyun has come under fire for playing an insensitive Indian Dancing Video at his recent solo concert.
During the concert, Jonghyun played a video featuring his fellow group members. The video focused on Jonghyun trying to win the heart of an Indian girl, and featured a video montage which included him dressing up as a prisoner, a mermaid and more.
The contents of his video were leaked online and after seeing the video many fans took to twitter to tell Jonghyun that they felt uncomfortable with it, noting that the video highlighted negative stereotypes about Indian culture.
After seeing all the messages, Jongyun responded with a sincere apology. Jongyun has been known to be incredibly sensitive and open about culture and social issues such as depression and LGBTQ rights, making the controversy quite surprising among his fans.
Read a translation of his apology below:
— 김종현 (@realjonghyun90) December 3, 2016
The first show of the concert has wrapped up.
I received a lot of feedback about the performance.
I would like to apologize for some of the things that were mentioned.
I was made aware that during the concert videos one video depicted a specific region in a condescending tone which made a lot of people uncomfortable.
This part was clearly my fault and I will delete the video. It is an inexcusable mistake and i deeply apologize to those hurt by it.
The video was not produced with the intent of marginalizing a region with such a rich historical culture.
The video follows the story of a girl who has no interest in me and how I try to win her over with the music and the choreography-it was not made to make fun of the culture but with the intent of making me appear confident in many different forms.
The funny part was supposed to be my exaggerated expressions and acting and not the ridicule of any particular culture. The video includes characters such as a gangster, a prisoner, a fisherman, a mermaid and the controversial character. The music is based on EDM and hip-hop.
I regret that I hurt a lot of people in my shallow way of thinking and because of that I am self-reflecting.
I was not intending to mock the culture.
Regardless, the video upset a lot of people and that is an inexcusable mistake and for that I deeply apologize and bow my head.
As previously mentioned, I will delete the controversial clip and replace it with a different one.
— 김종현 (@realjonghyun90) December 3, 2016
Also, I want to discuss the comment, “I respect their predisposition but I am not of ‘that side'” I don’t remember exactly what I said but I remember using the word predisposition and ‘that side’ because I was trying to be very clear in what I was trying to say to leave no room for misinterpretation………..I used the word ‘that side’ because I was trying to say that I am not of that certain disposition not because I was shying away from the word gay or homosexual. If such a word is used to belittle people of certain sexual orientation than that was a mistake I caused due to my ignorance and I apologize.
— 김종현 (@realjonghyun90) December 3, 2016
5~6 years ago I used the word ‘such hobby’ to describe the same thing and I was very wrong to describe it in such a way. It was in my early 20s and having realized how wrong it was I stopped using it in front of people. However, I have heard that the term has been adopted by many fandoms and they continue to use it. If any of you read this and know what that phrase means, please stop doing so. It was a mistake made at a time when I was far more ignorant and I would like to right my wrongs.
