German Radio Host Compared K-Pop Band BTS To COVID-19 And More For Covering Coldplay’s Song Fix You
By Chirali Sharma:
Just when you think that the K-pop band BTS has gone past the racist and even homophobic attacks, they pop up again like those annoying beavers in olden days arcade games.
BTS, short for Bangtan Sonyeondan or Beyond the Scene and is a seven-membered group consisting of Jin, Suga J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, Jungkook, have recently been showered with love and appreciation for their MTV Unplugged segment. They were the first Korean act in history to be featured on the show.
In the programme they not only sang their latest title song Life Goes On, but also debuted other amazing songs from their latest album BE like Telepathy, Blue & Grey, and ended it with their first English song the Grammy-nominated song Dynamite.
Along with these songs BTS also covered British rock band Coldplay’s song ‘Fix You’ in a heart-rendering way.
While even the cover was much praised by not only BTS fans but general listeners and Coldplay fans too, it seems that it struck the nerve of one radio host from Germany.
What Did This Radio Show Host Say?
On Thursday, that is 25th February 2021, a tweet including a video clip from a radio show went viral.
The tweet made originally by Twitter user @fairiesvmns and translated by another user (given below) had German radio host Matthias Matuschik hosting a show on the government-funded Radio station BAYERN 3.
https://twitter.com/mysevenwhaliens/status/1365002380912316416
During this, he brought up the BTS’ recent MTV Unplugged program specifically their cover of Fix You and went on a racist and xenophobic tirade about how essentially BTS are “just like an abbreviation for COVID-19” as per a translation.
He went on to use curse words for them and even added as per a translation that “This is sacrilege, for this you will…for this you will be vacationing in North Korea for the next 20 years!”
tw // hate speech, racism
the first part of the introduction that was not in the original video (WITH ENGLISH CC) @bayern3 #Bayern3Racist#RassismusBeiBayern3#Bayern3Apologize pic.twitter.com/cIQkpYHnAM
- ᴮᴱBTS UPDATES GERMANY ⁷ 🇩🇪 (@BTS_UPDATES_GER) February 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/BTS_UPDATES_GER/status/1365026507014479876
But… I guess since he prefaced it all by saying he cannot be racist or xenophobic since he has a South Korean car and also said that South Korea rules… that makes it okay and gives him all the permission in the world to be as rude and insulting as possible.
Apparently, it seems Matthias was warned of the storm coming his way and his radio station quickly put out a statement regarding his comments on BTS.
It said,
“In the show “Matuschke — the slightly different evening”, presenter Matthias Matuschik gave his personal opinion on the very successful South Korean band BTS and their unplugged concert and many of you have complained about it. It is the character of this program and also of the moderator to express his opinion clearly, openly and without makeup. In this case, out of the promise to present his opinion in an ironic and exaggerated way and with exaggerated excitement, he overshot his choice of words and thus hurt the feelings of the BTS fans. But he had — he assured us — in no way intended.
This is his personal opinion of taste, regardless of the band’s origin and cultural background. You don’t have to share this taste, nor do you have to share the rough expression. The story of Matthias and his actions, his posts in the past (to be read on his Facebook page and in various articles) clearly show that he is absolutely far from xenophobia and racism in any form. He has also tried to present this here, but does not change the fact that many of you have perceived his statements as hurtful or racist. We apologize for this in all form. We will work on the topic again With Matthias and the team in the next few days.”
Even the apology just seems to be a clinical one sent out where, with words like ‘perceived’ and such the focus is being put on how the fans themselves took the host’s words wrongly and that Matthias himself is the picture of equality and sainthood.
His comparison of BTS with coronavirus has been especially angered many considering the extreme rise of hate crimes against Asians or those who even look Asians because of where COVID-19 came from.
The fans or as they are called BTS ARMY, were admittedly pissed off by the host’s comments and called him out instantly. Hashtags like #Bayern3Apologize, #Bayern3Racist #RassismusBeiBayern3, #ApologizeToBTS and more began to trend on Twitter as soon as the issue surfaced.
what’s going on:
a german radio host got upset at bts covering coldplay, compared them to coronavirus and made a gag about sending them to north korea
the station excused his racist words as a “personal opinion”
RACISM IS NOT AN OPINION#Bayern3Racistpic.twitter.com/r9K8Mk4RI7 https://t.co/a1xR2DFhpp
- r⁷ 🐹 (@epipeny) February 26, 2021
The man’s comments make even little sense because Coldplay quickly retweeted the video of BTS’s cover and even gave their love to the band.
아름다운 @bts_twt 🤍🤍🤍
Love c, g, w & j #BTSUnplugged https://t.co/XkHAwMi0sl- Coldplay (@coldplay) February 24, 2021
It has also been noted by fans that Coldplay must have given express permission to BTS to cover their sing since they are notorious for being very selective on who covers their songs.
Meaning that Coldplay knew about the cover and felt that BTS was talented and capable enough of doing justice to the song.
Originally published at https://edtimes.in on February 26, 2021.