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K-pop stars slam TMZ for mocking EXID

By Ahn Sung-mi

  • Published : May 5, 2015 - 17:44
  • Updated : May 5, 2015 - 17:44

Following the viral YouTube video showing TMZ staffers mocking K-pop girl group EXID’s English pronunciation, K-pop stars including Amber of f(x), Taecyeon of 2PM and Roy Kim criticized the racist comment delivered by the U.S.-based entertainment media outlet.

In the video released Sunday, the TMZ staff members poked fun at Junghwa, a member of five-member group EXID, when she said “I am so happy” in English as the group arrived at Los Angeles Airport to perform at the 2015 Korea Times Music Festival, alongside TVXQ, Apink and GOT7.

The staff members were laughing at her English accent and one reporter said, “What?! If I were a British girl, I would do a British accent.”

In response, fellow K-pop artists and netizens slammed TMZ for the comment via social media accounts.

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On Sunday, Amber wrote on Twitter, “I was gunna stay quiet but I cant. Seriously, @tmz not cool man. All Americans face palm at your rude and childish actions.”

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(Instyle)


Popular singer-songwriter Roy Kim retweeted Amber’s tweet and commented “Amen to this” on his Twitter on Monday.

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(Cosmopolitan)


“When someone make fun of the other for their strange accent, do they not realize that the person can speak another language fluently,” said Taecyeon on his Twitter on Monday. “(She) went to the U.S., and many fans were there so she greeted them in English. (They) are making fun of that? Just wow!”

“It was Junghwa’s first performance in the U.S., and she was just really happy to see the fans at the airport,” an official of the group’s label Yedang Entertainment told Yonhap news agency. “I feel like it’s racial discrimination to mock someone’s accent.”

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)

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