Girl Group Stars Hit With Backlash For Wearing Controversial T-Shirt Disrespectful To Islam

Statements have since been issued on the controversy.
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Koreaboo

One t-shirt has led to fierce backlash for two girl group idols this week. Both Kep1er‘s Yujin and BADVILLAIN‘s Ina came under fire within days of each other for sporting a controversial t-shirt design that fans have condemned as deeply disrespectful to Islam.

yujin top
| Bubble

The t-shirt at the center of fans’ disappointment and frustration is a design from the Korean brand 604SERVICE. Made from black fabric with long sleeves, the top is adorned with crystal embellishments forming an image of the Kaaba. On either side of the Kaaba, “Allah” and “Muhammad” are written in Arabic.

604service top

Central to Islam, the Kaaba is a deeply sacred site for Muslims. Similarly, Allah and the Prophet Muhammad hold profound significance. As such, numerous fans are expressing outrage seeing the elements used as decoration on a casual fashion item.

The backlash first unfolded on November 27, when Ina appeared wearing the t-shirt in a TikTok dance video with fellow member Chloe Young. The reaction was swift, with fans immediately criticizing Ina in the video’s comments. Across social media, many fans even called for a boycott of the rookie group, explaining why the clothing was considered offensive and culturally insensitive.

Within hours of the reaction, it seemed that fans’ messages had reached Ina herself. Around midnight Korean time, she took to the fan-artist communication platform Bubble to address the situation in English. In her first message, she expressed her regret for wearing the t-shirt and her willingness to learn from the experience.

I do hear you guys…I won’t ever stay ignorant + will continuously educate myself!! Please understand that A LOT of things are out of my hands… but I will try my best.. I sincerely apologize to those who have been hurt.

— BADVILLAIN’s Ina (via Bubble)

Ina soon followed up with a message that read, “Thank you for holding me accountable!” The TikTok was later deleted from BADVILLAIN’s channel.

Following her apology, several fans were still unhappy with the situation, stating that Ina should have issued her statement on a more public social media platform to reach a wider audience.

Others, however, praised Ina for quickly taking responsibility and committing to educating herself, noting that her message did state a lot of things are out of her hands. Many fans believe that the group’s agency, BPM Entertainment (also known as Big Planet Made Entertainment), must be in charge of BADVILLAIN’s TikTok account given that the video wasn’t deleted immediately upon Ina’s apology, but it is unclear whether the members are allowed to post on other social media channels without permission.

Naturally, fans also turned their attention towards the brand itself, calling on 604SERVICE to apologize and take action. Alongside anger at the t-shirt Ina was wearing, several fans also criticized a second version of the top with short sleeves.

On November 28, the company issued their own statement on social media. In a lengthy apology, 604SERVICE expressed regret for their failure to consider the cultural and religious significance of the imagery they used.

It was never our intention to disrespect any culture, religion, or group of people but we failed to fully consider the cultural and religious significance of certain symbols, images, and styles. On doing so, we overlooked the deeply held beliefs of many in the Muslim community and, as a result, created something that was inappropriate. We understand that clothing is not just a matter of fashion. We deeply regret that our designs did not show the respect and sensitivity that we now realize is crucial in such matters.

— 604SERVICE (via Instagram)

604service
| 604SERVICE

The brand went on to say that they had removed the offending products from their website, showroom, and retailers they work with as a “first step,” with a view to revisiting their design process with input from those with more expertise.

We are also open to feedback and dedicated to making any changes required to ensure that our work is more inclusive and respectful in the future. We understand that an apology is just the first step, and actions speak louder than words. We will be doing everything we can to ensure that our future creations are thoughtful, respectful, and considerate of the diverse communities we aim to serve.

— 604SERVICE (via Instagram)

However, the following day, the same t-shirt came to attention once again following a series of photos Kep1er’s Yujin shared with fans on her own Bubble channel. After the photos were shared on public social media platforms such as X, criticism quickly reignited, including among fans who were unaware of Ina’s situation.

While it seems the styling only came to light after 604SERVICE withdrew the shirt from market, eagle-eyed fans soon realized that this was not the first time Yujin had been pictured wearing the top. It was also part of her styling for the November 6 episode of Show Champion, on which Kep1er performed their new comeback pre-release “sync-love.”

yujin show champion
| OSEN

The photos Yujin posted on Bubble also appear to have been taken before the controversy unfolded on November 27 at the group’s MAKESTAR fansign event.

Again, many expressed their disappointment with all parties involved: Yujin, the group’s stylist, and their management agency KLAP Entertainment, as well as their original label WAKEONE.

The hashtags #YUJIN_APOLOGIZE_TO_MUSLIM and #INA_APOLOGIZE_TO_MUSLIM rapidly gained traction with messages targeted at Yujin and Ina themselves as well as their companies.

Later, the day after sharing the photos, fans spotted that they had been deleted from the platform. Shortly afterwards, on December 1, Yujin issued her own apology to fans on Bubble. In her statement, the Kep1er star sincerely addressed the fans who were hurt by her actions and pledged to be more careful in the future.

I sincerely apologize for not being aware of the issue with the t-shirt. I should have looked into it more thoroughly, and I want to express my apologies to those who were hurt because of me. I will act with greater care moving forward to ensure that something like this does not happen again.

— Kep1er’s Yujin (via Bubble)

Not long later, KLAP Entertainment also addressed the controversy publicly on X. Explaining to fans that they have deleted all related photos, the agency apologised to global fans for their “ignorance and shortcomings” in failing to consider the t-shirt’s connotations.

Hello, this is KLAP Entertainment.

We have recently confirmed that a design on Kep1er member Yujin’s outfit included religious symbolism, and as a result, we have taken measures to delete all related photos.

We should have carefully reviewed the outfit in advance to ensure it did not carry any religious connotations, but this incident occurred due to our ignorance and shortcomings. We deeply apologize to everyone who felt uncomfortable because of this.

As Kep1er is a group loved not only in Korea but also globally, we will exercise greater caution to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.

Once again, we sincerely apologize.

— KLAP Entertainment (via X)

While fans of Kep1er have praised KLAP Entertainment for taking their own accountability on the matter, fans of BADVILLAIN continue to criticise BPM Entertainment for staying silent after Ina’s apology.

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