Zoe Yeung '23
On October 9, 2022, K-pop artist Crush performed at the 2022 SOMEDAY PLEMORA festival. It was a festival held at a university in Seoul, South Korea. While performing one of his songs, he went to the crowd to give hive-fives, but it seemed that he ignored some fans doing so. Fans stated that as he interacted with fans who were non-black, he ignored those who were black.
Crush, who debuted in 2014 as a soloist, recently got out of military service. Along with coming back, he released a song with J-Hope, a member of BTS. Since its release, the song has been receiving great praise. He continued to perform at college festivals and shows, but is now facing controversy over the alleged racially motivated high-five snub.
The accusations started surfacing after a tweet and video from two fans who were people of color. In the video, as Crush passed by the crowd he avoided their hands while saying, “Mo.”
It was seen that he still interacted with the fans before and after them. Being a long-term fan of Crush, they expressed how disappointed they were in him. Another fan, who is black, felt embarrassed that it happened in front of so many people.
Seeing as the tweet went viral, Crush sent out an apology. He stated that he didn’t high-five people due to safety issues. Fans in the back were pushing people in the front row causing them to push the gate. Due to this, he supposedly restrained himself from interacting with most of the crowd.
However, fans proceeded to disprove his apology by showing more videos of the festival. According to those videos, there was no shoving or pushing in the crowd. Along with more evidence, the fan who sent out the original tweet stated that they were in the front row. This shows that there was no reason for him to avoid them.
This was not the first time Crush got himself into a controversy with the black community. In 2016, Crush participated in a Korean singing show called “The King of Masked Singer.” Upon entering the stage, he wore a mask resembling a character who was black. According to the black community, the mask was considered blackface. He was questioned over this decision since the show allows singers to bring in their own masks.
Comments