Jungkook, who was in the U.S. promoting his new solo single “Seven” was traveling with Jimin. They intended to enjoy some leisure time on a yacht trip in New York. However, their private outing took an unpleasant turn when the yacht’s captain said disrespectful, xenophobic things about them.
#Jimin 🐥and #JungKook 🐰 are filming something on yacht 🤔 let's see what their prepare for us #bts 💜💜💜 pic.twitter.com/O1pFvXbh7o
— Taekook pics 💜💚🐯🐰 (@anjali82373) July 17, 2023
The captain recorded videos of Jimin and Jungkook, who were unaware they were being filmed. He later shared the videos on his Instagram story, infuriating ARMY. In one of the videos, the captain said, “The dude in charge, he was all, ‘You need to put your phones away.’ I said, ‘Listen, bro, they’re getting on my boat, not the other way around.’”
The fans saw the captain’s words as a clear display of xenophobia. Consequently, they mass-emailed BigHit Music, BTS’s management company, informing them of the situation. They urged BigHit Music to sue the captain for invading the artists’ privacy and making xenophobic comments.
How ARMY fought for Jimin and Jungkook
I think Jimin and Jungkook are filming a challenge to song 7 on a yacht 😆pic.twitter.com/DXlzxwpDp1
— Nelya 🐱🐥 (@NelyaKuzmina) July 16, 2023
This incident isn’t the first time Korean artists encountered racism and xenophobia while promoting outside their native land. As of this writing, BTS fans worldwide are awaiting a response from the yacht company and for HYBE Corporation, BigHit Music’s parent company, to take appropriate action regarding the invasion of privacy.
i hope jungkook and jimin are okay… and i hope that captain of the yacht gets his license revoked. why is it so hard to show basic human decency?? filming someone without their consent and then saying after that nobody even knows them like what are you even after????
— 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞⁷ (@Ioviejmn) July 17, 2023
Featured Image: As always, Jimin and Jungkook were together on the “Yet to Come” MV Shoot set. Source: YouTube/BTS’s official YouTube channel.