Opinion | BTS taking a break is one of the biggest entertainment news stories of 2022. Why did it get so messy?

Panic over how long BTS’s hiatus would be and whether it would end in permanently breaking up completely ignored what the members were actually saying

It felt not only dismissive of BTS but of all artists who desire a change in direction, or indeed a rest in this world of constant production and consumption

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BTS at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, USA, on April 3, 2022. The surprise announcement that they were taking a break to focus on members’ solo projects stunned their global fanbase. Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Published: 4:15am, 22 Jun 2022Updated: 11:51am, 22 Jun 2022

When the seven members of BTS sat down to share a change in direction that would involve a focus on individual projects rather than joint endeavour, the world felt like it imploded. Not because of the announcement, no. Because of the way it was reported and how it spread with a total disregard for what they were actually saying.

“Global superstars.” “K-pop hitmakers.” “A voice of a generation.” “The boy band of the moment.” Whatever you want to title them, it’s undeniable that BTS are it in 2022.

And as they released a new anthology album, Proof, and a variety of other content to celebrate their ninth anniversary on June 13, the group decided to share that they’d like to be even more than that. They’d like to grow as artists, and the way to do that wasn’t how they’d been doing it up until now. That’s why they framed the announcement as the closing of the first chapter of the book of BTS and that they were moving onto chapter two.

What this will look like is unknown, but they were quite clear that this is nowhere near the end. Members clarified multiple times that they were coming back and that this wasn’t a disbandment by any means. It would be a break, a hiatus, and then they’d return.

BTS at a press conference for their new single Butter at Olympic Hall in Seoul, South Korea, on May 21, 2021. Photo: Imazins via Getty Images

But the way “hiatus” rapidly turned into “the band is breaking up” in news reports was rather shocking.

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