FILA And Samsung China Delete BTS-Related Posts And Products After RM’s Speech Sparks Controversy
Following BTS‘s James A. Van Fleet Award acceptance speech on October 9, which mentioned the Korean War, Chinese netizens came to criticize the group for “being insensitive“.
In his speech, RM spoke of the “70th anniversary of the Korean War” and commemorated “the sacrifices of countless men and women.”
The speech triggered a string of reactions on Twitter and other social media platforms, calling out BTS for “hurting the Chinese fans’ feelings” and “negating history“.
South Korean boy band #BTS is strongly condemned on #China's social media for their speech after receiving James A. Van Fleet Award. Chinese netizens said the band's totally one-sided attitude to the #KoreanWar hurts their feelings and negates history. pic.twitter.com/NaycIBzJwH
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) October 11, 2020
While Big Hit Entertainment is still yet to respond, the criticism has now reportedly led to brands like Samsung China and FILA China take noticeable action. For one, Samsung China has apparently removed its BTS-related product, the Galaxy S20+, from the official website…
#SamsungChinaBTS Bloggers discovered that Samsung China is currently taking down all BTS-related products. This attitude is upright.
— Weibo User
… and FILA China has also removed its previous BTS-related posts from its official Weibo account. The brand’s announcement of the group’s endorsement (left) has now been deleted (right), yielding in a “No Result Found” page.
Chinese netizens have trended “FILA’s official Weibo clears out all BTS related content” and “Samsung China BTS” at #21 and #27…
… as they remain disappointed and pushing for an apology.
BTS is over.
— Weibo User
Watch BTS’s James A. Van Fleet Award acceptance speech here:
