“Kelly And Ryan” Under Fire For Disregard Of Stray Kids’ Safety, Health Disorders, And Personal Space
Stray Kids recently released a single album Step Out Of Clé consisting of two English versions of their songs “Double Knot” and “Levanter”. To promote it ahead of the North American leg of their world tour District 9: Unlock, they appeared on Kelly And Ryan.
The appearance didn’t go as smoothly as planned even before hitting the stage. In announcements before the group’s appearance, the show not only misspelled their name as “Stray Children” but their song “Gone Days” as “Past Days.”
this is not a fucking typo and this is not how you treat aNY artist this is so disrespectful its disgusting pic.twitter.com/CyXp7XZmTo
— 𝐤𝐢𝐦𝐢 (@onlylix) January 24, 2020
That’s when the hashtag “ApologizeToStrayKidsKellyAndRyan” began making the rounds. It was hosts’ treatment of the group during the live show that fans found even more disrespectful. As Stray Kids were standing on stage, Ryan Seacrest decided to bring fans on stage. The first one he approached repeatedly refusing the request.
Sticking to his idea, Ryan then moved on to others that would join the group on stage. Not only did fans view this as a safety concern, but a health concern as well due to Han and the proximity of the audience to the stage.
Last month, JYP Entertainment released a statement where they revealed that Han suffers from intermittent anxiety, especially when faced with large groups of people.
The show’s action even caused Billboard columnist Jeff Benjamin to speak up about the incident, praising fans for keeping their cool and highlighting the hosts’ lack of research concerning Han’s health disorder. But, there was also something else that didn’t sit well with fans.
Imagine having your musical guest previously come out and share their social anxiety with crowds, but then invite a crowd of people onstage with him. I'm glad the fans were calm and knew not to rush or make chaos. Respect to #Stay
— Jeff Benjamin (@Jeff__Benjamin) January 27, 2020
When the hosts greeted Stray Kids, Felix was prepared for a handshake but instead received something else entirely. Kelly Ripa leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Since a kiss is usually reserved for close family and friends in Korean culture and Felix hadn’t been expecting one, fans weren’t happy with the invasion of his personal space.
Since the backlash, neither of the hosts have responded to the request for an apology by fans. See the unfortunate events that upset fans unfold below.
