German radio station apologises after host compares K-pop’s BTS to coronavirus

Matthias Matuschik mocked the band’s version of Fix You and described the group as ‘some crappy virus that hopefully there will be a vaccine for soon as well’

Many South Koreans living abroad expressed concerns that the remarks could incite anti-Asian violence

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Members of K-pop band BTS perform in Central Park, New York City. File photo: Reuters

Published: 9:33pm, 26 Feb 2021Updated: 3:01am, 27 Feb 2021

A Bavarian radio station apologised on Friday for a host’s comments comparing popular South Korean K-pop band BTS to the coronavirus, saying his choice of words had gone too far but was in no way meant to be “hurtful or racist”.

The statement came after legions of fans accused the station’s Matthias Matuschik of racism for his comments on the band’s cover of Coldplay’s Fix You, taking to social media using the hashtags #Bayern3Racist, #Bayern3Apologise and #RassismusBeiBayern3 which translates as “racism at Bayern3.”

“Racism is not an opinion,” wrote one user, @Vroseeeee1 in a blunt tweet in English, German, Korean and Spanish.

The uproar came after a live show on Wednesday, in which Matuschik derided BTS’s version of Fix You as “blasphemy” and compared the band to Covid-19, describing them as “some crappy virus that hopefully there will be a vaccine for soon as well”.

He then dug his hole deeper as he tried to roll back the comment somewhat, saying “I have nothing against South Korea, you can’t accuse me of xenophobia only because this boy band is from South Korea … I have a car from South Korea. I have the coolest car around.”

Then he went on to say that in penance for the cover, BTS “will be holidaying in North Korea for the next 20 years”.