South Korean music star Crush posted an apology to Instagram after he was called out for allegedly ignoring Black fans at the 2022 Someday Plemora showcase. The 30-year-old K-Pop idol apologized and explained that the allegations were just a misunderstanding.
“Hi, everyone. I just wanted to address the issue revolving around the audience interaction from my performance last night at the 2022 SOMEDAY PLEROMA festival,” he began. “I’ve been away for roughly 2 years, and being able to perform on stage with my dearest fans in the audience was such an unforgettable and long-awaited experience, so I naturally and instinctively walked towards and reached down to the crowd.”
He continued in the post, “To avoid further misunderstanding, I would like to explain that I had to refrain from giving out high-fives with the fans in particular sections as a safety precaution – fans were getting too close to the fences holding up the audience section, and I saw that those in the front row were getting pushed against the fence, so I made a quick judgment not to approach for the safety of my fans. I sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding that my actions may have caused,” he finished, “I love each and every one of my fans and I would never discriminate nor favor anyone.”
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The apology was released after a fan, who attended the concert, recounted the incident. In a now-deleted series of tweets captured by The New York Times, Crush was giving high fives to fans and allegedly decided to ignore a pair of fans who had “dark skin.”
“Sooo, I have decided 2 post it..here it is! the ppl crush says “no” 2 is my roommate n I, u can c my hand go down (i have dark skin, so it stands out) right after. I don’t think Crush should “get away” with this. I want other ppl 2 know what he did!” The tweet read, “we r both black; she just has lighter skin than me! on top of that,t a friend of mine moved her hand away so Crush could get 2 me and my roommate, but he skipped us n still touched her hand anyways, which she told me after the festival. so,”
The aforementioned roommate posted to Twitter as well to corroborate the initial tweet, “Yeah… I’m the roommate. for this to happen to us, first-hand really broke my heart. I’ve never experienced blatant discrimination like this in my entire life. Especially since he was my favorite artist. It hurts so bad,”
The New York Times continued to outline a persistent problem in the K-Pop industry where the music continually toes the line between cultural sensitivity, appropriation, and appreciation. The news outlet interviewed a few African Americans who live in South Korea. Akeyla Vincent, 32, a public school teacher, said, “Skipping over the Black fans seemed unlike him, but it didn’t seem like it was unlike K-pop.”
Melissa Lienyande, a Black South African teacher, living in South Korea, admitted that she thought Crush’s actions were based on wanting to keep his fans safe. She continued to acknowledge, however, that as a K-Pop fan, she has had a lot of trouble with some of the biggest names in the K-Pop industry not recognizing where some of their inspirations come from the Black Community.
“I like these artists so much, and I love their music and their personalities,” she told the outlet. “But if I can take my time to learn about their culture or where they come from, why can’t they do the same?”
A Stanford research paper explained that much of South Korea’s anti-Blackness comes from the fact that the “ethnic homogeneity is still very strong” in the country. It has a minimal population of minorities who look different from them. There are also no legal repercussions for racial discrimination in the country, preventing people from being reprimanded for their racism.
