BTS parody sketch prompts racism and xenophobia accusations for comedy show
- On Saturday, Chilean comedy show Mi Barrio aired a skit with a group of men parodying members of BTS while misspeaking Korean and mocking Korean names
- The incident comes just weeks after BTS spoke out against hate towards Asians across the globe following a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and racism
A Chilean television programme is facing blowback after airing a parody sketch of K-pop superstars BTS that many fans feel was fuelled by racism and xenophobia.
On Saturday, the Chilean comedy show Mi Barrio aired a skit that featured a group of men parodying members of BTS while misspeaking Korean and mocking Korean names.
The show also made fun out of the Covid-19 vaccination and of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, under whose rule the United Nations’ Human Rights Council has reported a high death toll and numerous crimes against humanity targeting dissenters of the Kim regime.
A Chilean fan base account on Twitter known as BTS Chile shared some details about the incident, translated the sketch and gave updates as the story progressed.
“Last night, Chilean comedy TV Show Mi Barrio presented a parody performance of BTS, where all the jokes were based on racism and xenophobia, including mockery of their language, their names and a joke related to the pandemic. This situation is extremely insensitive considering the discriminatory attacks the Asian community has suffered globally.”
The account also shared how fans could reach out to the television show and its parent company. “This cannot pass as humour and we have to see it as it really is: a racist aggression,” wrote the account.