TikToker Under Fire For Making Racist Gestures And Condescending Remarks To ATEEZ At Their Fanmeet
A Russian TikTok influencer has become the center of mass controversy for her racist and condescending behavior at a recent ATEEZ fan event.
After having moved to South Korea not too long ago, TikTok user @just_2alina (name Alina Sharanova) began to gain popularity for her K-Pop dance covers and other K-Pop related videos. The influencer, who boasts over 124,000 followers on TikTok, was always praised for her dance covers but in the most recent news, she has found herself in an ugly situation.
A few days ago, ATEEZ held a fan meeting event, which proved itself to be a rare opportunity for real fans due to the limited 30 spots that were available. The intimate meeting should have been filled with heartwarming interactions, but a recent TikTok video featuring none other than Alina Sharanova has started to go viral on Twitter due to her condescending and racist behavior.
According to different Twitter users, the TikToker can allegedly be heard asking some rude questions to some of the ATEEZ members, while mocking their English speaking abilities.
Her attacks against Mingi didn’t end there, as she was also heard telling him to spend his time “learning English.”
Following her rude remarks and questions about Mingi‘s English, it was reported that the ATEEZ member participated in the rest of the fan meet looking down in his spirits.
I am worried about Mingi. He didn’t say a word for the whole time, was sitting there silently, nodded a few times and didn’t even smile. I wouldn’t too after your words.
— English translation provided by @babieteez/Twitter
In another clip, the TikToker allegedly accused an ATEEZ’s Wooyoung of “imitating Jimin,” while backhandedly praising him for finally finding his “own style.”
OP: "I praise you for having found your own style and stopped imitating Jimin"
just found this questionable tiktok of a russian atiny who got on a recent ateez fan meeting while scrolling my fyp page and the fact that the girl in the ss just casually said that to wooyoung??like?? pic.twitter.com/ENNYwmVjIU— ᝰ (@hjshyper) December 19, 2021
However, this is not all. @just_2alina took her rude behavior a step further by making a racist gesture targeted towards the Asian population. Following the conclusion of the ATEEZ fan event, she logged on to Instagram live to discuss her thoughts on the fan meeting. It was here that Alina made the racist slanted eye gesture while expressing her surprise regarding “how big” San‘s eyes were in real life.
However, this is not the TikToker’s first controversy. Previously, the dancer came under fire after recording herself throwing away boxes of ATEEZ albums and merchandise. At a gas station, @Just_2alina can be seen happily dancing, while throwing away all of the ATEEZ goods.
Following the uploads, it didn’t take long for all of the clips to spread online, as Alina’s racist, rude, and condescending behavior spread like wildfire. ATINYs (ATEEZ fans) all over the world banded together to heavily criticize the TikToker for her behavior.
The TikToker has since apologized for her actions, but has been met with even more backlash from ATEEZ fans. You can read @just_2alina‘s apology down below.
It is Sharonova Alina.
First of all, I SINCERELY want to APOLOGIZE for all this situation about fan sign event and about my Insta-live in which you saw one of racist gesture. Though I have been interested in Asia for more than 10 years and have been living in asian already for more than 5 years, I did not know how serious meaning this gesture have. My friends immediately let me know it after they saw first posts. I HAVE NEVER BE A RACIST and never intended to offend someone who is not same nationality with me. I have friends all over the world and the biggest part of them are Asian, whom I regard a lot. I am so sorry for using this gesture thoughtlessly and hurt your feeling! I swear from this moment I will carefully think about each gesture and word.All of you are mad with me for those comments on video that I added in moments nothing can be heard. (IT WAS NOT THE THINGS I TOLD! NEVER! IT WAS ONLY COMMENTARY OF SITUATION THAT IS GOING ON SCREEN, NOT MY WORDS TO BOYS!)
I do not deny that in video I could use some words in Russian language that have dual meaning. I want to explain for people who do know not know Russian that our language have many words that are frequently used in everyday life, but they can become rude and offensive in some situation.
I SWEAR absolutely all comments were made without any intention of offending any ATEEZ member, KQ Entertainment staff and etc. I did not expect Russian people would take it as an insult towards the boys and spread it into fandom like I had an intention of offending ATEEZ. I am really sorry for misunderstanding and this situation. I am not searching for your excuse, but just want to let everybody know that ATEEZ means a lot in my life and I will never offend/insult/abuse on purpose. They are a huge part of my world and for me saying bad about them is same as abusing myself.
— Alina Sharonova @AlinaMin98/Twitter
