K-pop fans are furious about racism at the Met Gala. Here's why.
Stray Kids became the first full K-pop group to ever attend the Met Gala on Monday, with all eight members present at the annual fundraising fashion event. Unfortunately, the momentous occasion was marred by "disrespectful" and "racist" comments made by photographers covering the red carpet, infuriating K-pop fans all around the world.
In a widely circulated clip from USA Today's arrivals livestream, Stray Kids members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N are shown arriving at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for the event. Wearing coordinated red, white, and navy Tommy Hilfiger suits, the K-pop idol group pose together for clusters of photographers.
It's a loud environment, filled with people shouting directions over crowd chatter. Even so, several photographers can clearly be heard making remarks they might not have had they known that Stray Kids most certainly understand English — or that their comments were being livestreamed.
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Sarcastically telling Stray Kids to "tone it down," the Met Gala photographers complained that the K-pop idol group wasn't expressive enough for their liking. It was a particularly incongruous criticism considering that other guests such as Gustav Magnar Witzøe, Wisdom Kaye, Zendaya, and Willow and Jaden Smith weren't similarly admonished despite showing an equivalent amount of emotion.
"I've never seen so many unemotional faces in my life," one photographer said of Stray Kids.
"They're robots," said another.
Characterising Asians as robotic and unfeeling is a racist stereotype that has persisted for decades. Such false narratives dehumanise Asian people, leading to ostracisation, hate, and violence against them — as well as negatively impacting their mental health.
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But the group of Met Gala photographers continued, several loudly complaining when Stray Kids took off their coats, and grousing that they now had to take more photos of the group. Outfit changes aren't an outlandish concept for the Met Gala. The event's co-host Zendaya even swapped out her custom blue John Galliano for Maison Margiela dress for a vintage black Givenchy gown later that night. Lady Gaga brought no less than four outfit changes to the 2019 event.
Even so, Stray Kids simply shedding their jackets was apparently too much for these photographers to handle. In fact, some of them can be heard in the video commenting they'd have to explain it was still the same K-pop group, suggesting that others would think Stray Kids were completely different people merely because they'd removed their coats.
"You gotta explain that shit," said one. "They're gonna be, 'ah, two K-pop bands.'"
"That's funny," said another.
The idea that all Asian people look the same is another persistent racist stereotype that dehumanises and reduces them to a homogenous mass.
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During the shoot, the photographers also yelled at Stray Kids to jump or "do something crazy," asked them how to say certain words in Korean, and seemed to mockingly joke that the group were going to start performing right there on the red carpet — a stark contrast to the photographers' behaviour when other celebrities were in front of their lenses.
Combined with repeated calls of "annyeonghaseyo" ("hello" in Korean) and a comment labelled as "arigato" ("thank you" in Japanese) in the video, the whole ordeal left a bad taste in many people's mouths. Viewers from across K-pop fandoms have slammed the Met Gala photographers, calling their behaviour "disgusting" and "xenophobic."
"treating them like fucking zoo animals because the photographers assume they don't know english is so disgusting," wrote Twitter/X user @saimingki.
"don't need to be a fan of stray kids to recognize the blatant xenophobia," said @mygucciburned98. "this is so disgusting and disheartening"
"Not a Stay or even a fan, but I know they too work hard for their dreams. So what the f... did I just watch?? How rude and disrespectful!" commented @cypherluscious. Stray Kids' fans are called "Stay."
Mashable has reached out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for comment.
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This rude reception is unlikely to have flown over Stray Kids' heads either. Leader Bang Chan and rapper Felix are fluent in English, both being Korean-Australian, while most of the other members have at least a fair command of the language.
"Had such a great time because everyone treated us so respectfully~😊" Bang Chan reportedly posted to K-pop fan app Bubble later that night. Many fans have interpreted this statement as sarcastic.
Social media has also praised Bang Chan and his Stray Kids for handling the situation with poise and grace, despite knowing exactly what the photographers were shouting at them. It undoubtedly wasn't what the K-pop group had been hoping for from their first Met Gala experience.
"if i were skz i would nawt be staying professional oml im not their biggest fan but damn props to them for keeping their composure in front of all that bs," wrote @haobaoshearts.
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The issue of anti-Asian racism gained significant attention over the past few years. Asian communities around the world have faced increased racist rhetoric and violent attacks, as many erroneously blamed them for the COVID-19 pandemic. Sadly, it seems as though this increased awareness still hasn't led to more thoughtful behaviour from some.