EXID's Agency & Amber (And more!) Respond to TMZ's Racist Coverage

[sayuridoll.livejournal.com]

Follow up to this post.



Girl group EXID’s management company expressed its distaste of TMZ’s racist coverage of Junghwa, who went to America with the rest of the EXID members for a performance.

On May 3, America’s entertainment media outlet TMZ made fun of Junghwa by imitating her accent while speaking English, angering K-pop fans.

Yedang Entertainment‘s representative Jeon Seung Hwi said on May 4, “I came across the content in question. It’s very upsetting that they were ridiculing a Korean person with their tone and accent.”

He also said, “It isn’t something we can laugh off. This is clearly an act of racism. We will be contacting TMZ through Korean media on site and will be demanding countermeasures.”

When the video was revealed, a racism controversy ignited online. Amber from f(x) also expressed her displeasure at TMZ by posting on her Twitter, “I was gunna stay quiet but i cant. Seriously, @tmz not cool man. All Americans face palm at your rude and childish actions.”



Roy Kim
In response to what Amber said


2PM Taecyeon
Also, in response to what Amber said

Trans: “When they make fun of someone because of their accent, do they not know that that person has perfect command over a completely different language? Haha. Just wow.. to making fun of someone for replying in English to fans in the U.S. that came to see them.”

Source: Soompi

Comments

[in-noctem.livejournal.com]

"When they make fun of someone because of their accent, do they not know that that person has perfect command over a completely different language?"

TBH. Their dumbasses speak one language and they're coming for someone for not being able to speak another language fluently?? Lmao.

[eyryg.livejournal.com]

Mte! Every other country besides America will applaud you for speaking more than one language but in America they will look down on you 😒

[leopolitan.livejournal.com]

this is so heartbreaking...junghwa knows about it and is reportedly very upset :(

[springsky.livejournal.com]

aw, poor bb. hopefully, she's got people to reassure her that TMZ ain't shit.

[iznanassi.livejournal.com]

Poor Junghwa she didn't even know who they were and was just trying to be nice. How could they ruin someone's experience like that? Like do they think people are going to want to come to the country if that's the reception they're going to get?

[faerypitta.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad that the company's looking to actually demand countermeasures.

Not familiar with american law or how that would work though, can anyone expand on what might happen? Beyond a public apology, I guess?

[leopolitan.livejournal.com]

i dont think anything will happen, TMZ are jackasses who do stuff like this all the time. yedang is probably using this for publicity and good for them. make the best of a bad situation

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

This makes me so angry, poor junghwa, I bet she was so excited about performing abroad and meeting her international fans and a dumbass American media ruined part of her experience that should have been a incredibly positive one.

[leopolitan.livejournal.com]

:((( junghwa is the only pure and good thing in this fucked up world and now she may never smile again

[leighbee333.livejournal.com]

I really hope this controversy reaches TMZ, and those POS bottom-feeders are forced to respond.

TMZ "journalists" are just sneering mean girls/bullies who never grew up, and instead parlayed their grossness into a professional career. They don't even realize how embarrassing and pathetic they are - they think they're funny & snarky.

But:
This is clearly an act of racism. We will be contacting TMZ through Korean media on site and will be demanding countermeasures.”

LOL that word is a little heavy-handed for "apology"

[justkyhdding.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping it means that they'll demand TMZ to write the apology with their butts

[skidadler.livejournal.com]

TMZ is the fucking worst. The fact that they're still in business is just depressing.

While I'm glad those three said something, they should also be cognizant of the fact that their own country, their labelmates included, aren't innocent when it comes to racism either.

[leighbee333.livejournal.com]

IA

While Korean media would never mock a Hollywood celebrity (because those guys are "above" them), I've seen Korean media/personalities (or idols - e.g. Baek) mock foreign accents or people struggling with Korean on many occasions.

There's a particular English privilege/entitlement that's at play here, though.

[kyokomurasaki.livejournal.com]

TMZ remain jackasses; it's not surprising coming from them. I hope Junghwa's feelings weren't hurt because of their shitty behavior.

I know it's wishful thinking but maybe this might prompt some reflection on Korea's own not-so-stellar track record irt race/ethnicity.

[donutism.livejournal.com]

TMZ has said a lot of terrible things about a lot of people, people a lot bigger than EXID, people based in America, so I really don't think TMZ will even bother to respond to a Korean Entertainment company, because to them it's no big deal they probably deal with what they consider big companies on a daily basis anyway.

Everyone knows TMZ is crap, and yet here they are still standing.

[edanz-castle.livejournal.com]

+1.

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

so glad to see other idols and exid agency are supporting them
i think every fandom should be concerned, sadly this is how general public see and react to kpop

[atopworld.livejournal.com]

All of this is fucking with me on two different ends of the spectrum, and I don't know how to explain it.

ETA: Everyone spoke up on it and I was worried about voicing my opinion, since I didn't want it to come off as centering another issue. But it REALLY bothers me that there is obvious picking and choosing about when to speak up about things. Yeah...

[crystalheng.livejournal.com]

So Amber, how long more are you going to stay quiet about EYK then?

[iznanassi.livejournal.com]

[crowleyd545.livejournal.com]

TMZ are pigs.

But, what about blackfacing, Korea?

[iznanassi.livejournal.com]

Tbf, when that stuff happens and int'l fans react a lot of comments by knetz are "we get angry when it happens to our people we shouldnt be doing it to others" etc. there's always going to be people behind the curve, and as long as people are having meaningful discourse the situation will change.

[fancifury.livejournal.com]

i just hope junghwa is ok :(

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

TMZ is trash, has always been trash, and will always be trash. Good luck getting them to apologize for this, when they should be apologizing for their entire "careers".

However, I always struggle when ppl who have said and done racist shit, jump on others for doing racist shit. The whole glass houses thing. So, yeah TMZ fucked up/was racist, but SK is still showing blackface on TV so...

[diamondroad17.livejournal.com]

I think it was recently banned, I don't know the ban is on all the stations or just a specific one though.

[eyryg.livejournal.com]

It's so embarrassing and the worst feeling ever when someone jokes about your accent. I feel really bad for junghwa

[taengwoo.livejournal.com]

im so conflicted with how to feel because this is like... the pot calling the kettle black, esp them k-netz

[0ddie13.livejournal.com]

TMZ are the worst, they wish they were bilingual.

[suxaholic.livejournal.com]

+11111111111111111111111

Amber should take several seats

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

What a surprise.

[lettace.livejournal.com]

taecyeon made a good point

but amber... take a look at your friends lmao

[princetabi.livejournal.com]

poor bbs. tmz is trash and everyone on that show is dumb as hell...literally dumb as a rock.

but the way i feel and the way netizens feel about junghwa + tmz is also how i feel when the chinese/non korean members of other groups get made fun of for their pronunciation. Being mocked like that hurts from every side and even though I know its not likely, I hope people can reflect on their own rude behavior too.

[bri-and-red.livejournal.com]

chinese/non korean members of other groups get made fun of for their pronunciation

THIS, it doesn't excuse the actions of tmz but whenever there is a non-Korean member you can be sure there will be comments on their accents...I remember a recent-ish example is with got7 they had the non-Korean members do a quiz about Korean history or culture and Jackson and Bambam especially kept getting the answers right but their pronunciation would be slightly off (I think Jackson especially had trouble with "ss" vs "s" or something) and they wouldn't get credit despite how they obviously knew the answers

[revertigo.livejournal.com]

i'm obviously on their side, but it's kind of ridiculous to expect some litigation or anything more than an apology, no?

i mean tbf, the ignorance and blatant racism in the korean media did end up in the banning of black face on sns, but i don't know how stringent that's enforced.

this is actually the perfect time for LE to be called out for saying the n-word when she knew it was wrong for her to do so the minute she said it on live stream, too, a few years back. i mean i give her the benefit of the doubt because it's on the microaggressive side in the grand scheme of things and it'd be unfair to define her whole person by that isolated gaff, but she really should be held accountable for it.

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

I heard about that, but hadn't done any research. Just found the vid on BlackKpopFans Tumblr. (http://black-kpop-fans.tumblr.com/post/56281812495/this-is-the-gurupop-video-le-from-exid-using-the)

She definitely knew it was wrong, and Daniel's apology was rme worthy - "Koreans don't understand what it means!" Ok, they might not get the full picture of the weight that word has, but they know it's a "bad word".

[stargazer789.livejournal.com]

I agree with an earlier comment about this literally being the pot calling the kettle black.

TMZ is the worst and Junghwa and EXID (or anyone for that matter)should not have to be going through this. It sucks to think how upset she is by this when she was so genuinely happy to be there.


But other k-idols make fun of how foreigners talk in Korean all the time, so I don't understand where knets are acting like it has never happened before. The women for the global talk show became a talent for idols to use as they made fun of the way she spoke in korean. Some of the mc's on shows will speak in some made up lang or fast korean and call it Mandarin. EYK still exists after all the bs they pull. I am glad Amber and celebs are speaking out on the situation, but don't pick and choose when its wrong or not.

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Esp that last line.

[leighbee333.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know if TMZ has suffered a traffic decline in recent years? ::wishful thinking on my part::

I keep looking for signs that the gossip/tabloid industry is suffering just as much if not more than the rest of the print/media, but there doesn't seem to be much info about it.

[lettace.livejournal.com]

they did but it started doing well again
they're youtube channel is thriving as well -__-