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‘I hate K-pop’ – meet Imelda Schweighart, the former Miss Philippines Earth who once compared Rodrigo Duterte to Hitler

Imelda Schweighart just upset K-pop fans the world over – but it was not the first time the German-Filipino model has polarised opinions. Photo: @imahartiesofficial/Instagram
If you’re going to pick a strain of popular music to hate on right now, K-pop might not be the smartest choice – Korean music fans, after all, are renowned for their unflinching loyalty and obsessive, all-consuming passion.

But that’s where Imelda Schweighart has apparently drawn her line in the sand, taking aim at not just one idol, boy band or girl group, but dissing the whole Korean pop enchilada. ICYMI: the former Miss Philippines Earth titleholder made international headlines after posting three simple words on Facebook: “I hate K-pop”. Uh-oh.

If you live in the Philippines or are familiar with Schweighart’s career, such attention-grabbing antics probably come as no surprise. But, for those of us who may have no idea who she is, here’s what you need to know about K-pop fans’ new public enemy No 1.

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Her argument? She thinks K-pop is bad for the Filipino identity

Schweighart elaborated on her controversial statement by arguing that Filipinos are “losing their identity trying to be like Koreans. Konting pride, please?”

 

She went on to say that Filipinos speak English better than Koreans and, replying to comments, said that Filipinos should not be bending to trends or fads.

Her commentary has opened up a Pandora’s box of backlash from groups including the BTS Army, Once, SONE, Shawols, Universe and other K-pop fans coming to their favourite genre’s defence on Twitter – and in her Facebook comments section.

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She’s German-Filipino and a former pageant queen

Like other famous beauty queens in the Philippines, Schweighart is mixed-race. Her father is German while her mother is Filipino. Schweighart was also born in Cyprus, but she is based in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, and represented the coastal city as Miss Puerto Princesa in 2016.

 

Miss Universe 2015, Pia Wurtzbach, is also German-Filipino, while Miss Universe 2018, Catriona Gray, is Australian-Filipino.

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She’s also a singer now

Schweighart refers to herself as an “independent artist” and has a few singles available on Spotify. Her most popular track, Bubba Luva, has more than 23,000 listens on the platform. However, Twitter users were quick to criticise the singer for blasting a different genre of music from her own.

Did she really say Duterte is like Hitler … “but for the good”?

Schweighart’s comments likening the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, to Adolf Hitler also earned the singer international headlines. In a Facebook Live video, Schweighart can be seen saying, “Our president is doing Hitler stuff here in the Philippines”. She was speaking to Miss Austria Kimberly Budinsky, also captured on video, after Schweighart asked whether the Nazi dictator was from Austria.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was compared to Adolf Hitler by Imelda Schweighart. Photo: Reuters

Following the incident, Schweighart took to Facebook to apologise. She wrote:

I am an extremist so forgive me my fellow Filipinos and Duterte supporters if you didn't understand how I am. I got that idea wherein I said, ‘Duterte is doing Hitler stuff’ from online news, newspapers with headlines saying he is Hitler-like but for the good.
 

The fallout? She resigned as Miss Philippines Earth 2016

The “Hitler remark” was not the only controversial statement the former beauty queen made, and ultimately she was forced to relinquish her crown because of her lack of professionalism.

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A video of Schweighart criticising the winner of Miss Earth 2016, Katherine Espin, began circulating online that year, which catalysed Schweighart’s voluntary resignation as Miss Philippines Earth 2016. In it, Schweighart accused the beauty queen of having plastic surgery.

She can be seen saying, “Yung nanalo, peke ilong, peke pa baba, peke pa … Miss Earth, dapat natural, di ba?” which, roughly translated from Tagalog, means: “The winner – fake nose, fake chin, fake [pointing to chest]. Miss Earth should be natural, no?”

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Blackpink? BTS? Exo? Nope, the German-Filipino beauty queen only went and wrote off all Korean popular music in one foul, three-word swipe – earning a multitude of mortal enemies in the process