South Korean singer Crush has denied allegations of racism following a recent fan interaction at a music festival.
On October 9, the singer performed at the â2022 SOMEDAY PLEROMAâ festival held at Yonsei University, and began to high-five fans while performing âDonât Forgetâ. Several videos were captured and posted of the singer apparently waving off two Black fans before continuing to high-five others at the concert.
Twitter user @tulipyeo claimed they were one of the fans Crush appeared to dismiss, alleging that the singer had said ânoâ to them and their roommate. âi dont think crush should âget awayâ [with] this. i want other ppl 2 know what he did!â they wrote.
sooo i have decided 2 post it..here it is! the ppl crush says ânoâ 2 is my roommate n i, u can c my hand go down (i have dark skin so it stands out) right after. i dont think crush should âget awayâ w this. i want other ppl 2 know what he did! https://t.co/BNgvkNsKYk pic.twitter.com/cB42zXcU28
— ewuresi
(@tulipyeo) October 10, 2022
A Twitter user claiming to be @tulipyeo’s roommate came forward on the platform, claiming in a tweet: âfor this to happen to us first hand really broke my heart. iâve never experienced blatant discrimination like this in my entire life. especially since he was my favorite artist, it hurts so bad.â
yeah⊠iâm the roommate. for this to happen to us first hand really broke my heart. iâve never experienced blatant discrimination like this in my entire life. especially since he was my favorite artist, it hurts so bad https://t.co/AhoyLU1zOw
— â (@brinaxv) October 10, 2022
A day later on October 10, Crush took to Instagram to address the allegations. âI would like to explain that I had to refrain from giving out high-fives with the fans in particular sections as a safety precaution,â claimed the singer.
He further explained that he noticed âfans were getting too close to the fences holding up the audience section and I saw that those in the front row were getting pushed against the fenceâ. As a result, Crush says, he ended up making âa quick judgement not to approach for the safety of my fans.â
“I sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding that my actions may have caused,” he wrote. “I love each and every one of my fans and would never discriminate nor favor anyone.” Read the singerâs full statement below.
More criticism was levelled at Crush after some Twitter users unearthed screenshots from his 2016 appearance on TV singing competition King of Masked Singer, during which he wore a mask of Michol, a Black character from the South Korean cartoon Dooly that has been criticised as a racially insensitive caricature of Black people. Crush has not responded to this criticism.
The post Korean singer Crush rejects allegations of racist fan interaction at music festival appeared first on NME.
