K-Pop group KISS OF LIFE has apologized after posting a YouTube video that many viewed as racist and offensive.
On Thursday, the band’s management company S2 Entertainment released a statement saying sorry for their video showcasing old-school hip-hop. While they likely meant no offense, fans weren’t having it and blasted them across social media, with many pointing out how the content came across as culturally insensitive.
“We’d like to address the issues that arose from the content that was uploaded on KISS OF LIFE’s official YouTube yesterday,” S2 Entertainment wrote in their statement. “We sincerely apologize for causing discomfort to our viewers. The true purpose of the content was to celebrate hip-hop culture, which serves as much of the musical inspiration for KISS OF LIFE. However, we apologize for our shortcomings in recognizing the negative cultural implications that our content could be perceived to have.”
S2 Entertainment continued, “Our members and team promise to approach cultural references with greater caution and respect moving forward. All related content has been removed from all of our channels.”
Many social media users felt the apology fell short, sharing numerous posts highlighting how other K-Pop acts have released content that appropriates culture or contains outright racist elements.
Check out some reactions to their apology below.
