New York Times Podcast Under Fire For “Racist And Xenophobic” Comments About BTS

They criticized Jungkook’s “GOLDEN” and more.

ARMYs are calling out a New York Times podcast for racism and xenophobia.

New York Times podcast, Popcast, released an episode titled, “Jung Kook, BTS and English Language K-Pop.” It’s hosted by Jon Caramanica and guest Kara, who ARMYs have realized is behind the controversial Idolcast podcast.

A conversation about K-pop’s long march to American awareness, and the potential risks of that embrace.

— New York Times

Kara refused to reveal her last name, claiming “because the stans are crazy,” and the podcasters repeatedly said, “We are adults, and we are entitled to our opinion.” ARMYs who listened to the episode described it as a “conversation between an anti and an ex-ARMY.” 

The podcast commended some K-Pop for sounding “K-Pop” while criticizing BTS for English releases, such as “Dynamite,” “Butter,” “Permission to Dance,” and even international collaboration, “MIC Drop,” with Steve Aoki, as well as BTS’s labelmates, such as TXT.

BTS Jungkook‘s recent solo debut album, GOLDEN, was highlighted, and since it’s influenced by Western pop and Jungkook sings in English, the podcasters hated it. One said that Jungkook sounded too much like Justin Timberlake, who has been a musical inspiration for him and even recently featured on a remix of “3D.”

All the writers, all the producers [are Americans], it’s an American album with a Korean face on it basically. And so I think if I was a listener that was like, ‘Oh, this is what a K-Pop guy can do; It sounds just like Justin Timberlake. Why do you need a Korean guy doing Justin Timberlake when we have Justin Timberlake? I can go see Trolls 3 right now.’ I don’t need to fly to Seoul to see Trolls 3, it’s here.

— Kara

@makellams

#greenscreenvideo #jungkook #bts and the NYT #podcast about #kpop

♬ original sound – Christine Ma-Kellams

ARMYs were shocked and appalled by this “hot take.” Many felt it was close-minded and xenophobic.

@hopeferlizz

#greenscreen BTS & Jungkook vs. the new york times podcast: A RANT. Maybe I’m just extra everything today. #bts #jungkook #btsjk #jungkookgolden #btschapter2 #bangtan #btsarmy #btsmedia #nytimes #txt #hybebighit

♬ original sound – Lizz 🐨🗯️💜📣🐿️

Kara has blocked ARMYs via The Idolcast Podcast social media account, refusing to acknowledge the criticism.

Still, ARMYs are continuing to call out the New York Times and the host for racism and xenophobia in this podcast episode. They’re demanding an apology.

Currently, the podcast episode is still up, and it says it’s the “Most shared” on Spotify. So, the New York Times likely got what they wanted and won’t respond to the criticism.

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