TXT Suffers Racist Treatment At iHeartRadio Event, Fans Upset By “Tragic Apology”
On June 1, TXT performed at iHeartRadio‘s Wango Tango as the first ever K-Pop boy group to join the lineup. They performed their songs “Crown”, “Blue Orangeade”, and the English version of “Cat & Dog”.
Although their performance went smoothly, photographers on the red carpet were offhandedly disrespectful with comments like “BTS junior”, “What’s the name of the group?”, and mispronouncing their name as “Text.”
“pose like you’re asian”
what the fuck is that supposed to mean??????pic.twitter.com/0iBGyrKLpu
— incorrect txt quotes (@txtcorrect) June 2, 2019
But, there was one comment in particular that fans couldn’t believe was said by one of the photographers. No one understood what the photographer meant, but his words were clearly racially charged.
Get close like you’re asian.
.@iHeartRadio @WangoTango_ This is absolutely UNPROFESSIONAL & RACIST! “Get closer like your Asian.” What is that even supposed to mean!!?? TXT deserves an apology from whoever the photographer was. Absolutely disgusting too see them get treated that way.
pic.twitter.com/HTB9ColQMm— JIMENA IS HAPPY BC SOOBIN IS HAPPY (@gcfbeomjun) June 2, 2019
during the wango tango pink carpet one photographer legit said to TXT "get close like you're Asian"? Word for word?? Like WHAT????? How is no one ending this person's career? Isn't this called, um, RACISM?? pic.twitter.com/7J1LazUnKO
— TXT❣️Helena (@TxtHelena) June 2, 2019
So, Wango Tango issued an apology about the unknown photographer merely being a bad person. They made it clear they didn’t condone the photographer’s words and said they were accepting of everyone.
We're so sorry for this! The person who said this probably it's not a good person. We don't know who it is, but we are not racist and we accepted all people. #SpreadLove #WangoTango https://t.co/lwTDDJHVwj
— #WangoTango (@WangoTango_) June 2, 2019
But, fans weren’t happy with how poorly-worded the apology was.
this apology sounds like a 7 year old wrote it in
— hobi enthusiast 💗 (@grapeboyjin) June 2, 2019
Wow what a meaningful apology! “Probably not a good person” are u talking to children? Wow
— Hedi (@MissChemical) June 2, 2019
what kind of apology is this, tragic
— ali by jin (@ggukflies) June 2, 2019
Fans were so disappointed with the apology that they’re waiting for a new one to make up for it. But, Wango Tango hasn’t spoken about the incident since.
