One Year Later: Have KISS OF LIFE Recovered From Their Racism Scandal?
In April 2025, KISS OF LIFE held a live stream to celebrate member Julie’s birthday. The live stream was “hip-hop” themed and featured the members dressing and behaving in their interpretation of it.
Following the live stream, the group were harshly criticized for their actions, which many considered to be cultural appropriation and racism. The group’s initial silence only fueled netizens’ anger, and when an apology was made, many did not consider it sufficient.
Another apology was made, but many had already distanced themselves from the group.
As a result of the scandal, the group faced backlash in different ways — they were removed from the KCON LA lineup that year, lost over 200,000 followers, and had fans leave the fandom.
KISS OF LIFE Lose Nearly 200,000 Followers, Fan Accounts Close Following Julie’s Birthday Livestream
More than a year has gone by since the scandal, but has the group recovered from its effects?
Follower-wise, the group has gained back and added more subscribers to their YouTube account, going from 2 million to 2.06 million.
However, their Instagram account shows an even larger loss, going from 3.7 million followers to 3.02 million. KISS OF LIFE’s X account also has seen a larger loss, currently sitting at 254.8K, down from the group’s once achieved 300K pre-scandal.
Other changes included their first-week stream totals, with the group’s recent release earning their highest first-week Spotify streams since before the scandal.
The most streamed Kiss of Life songs in the first week on Spotify:
#1. Midas Touch — 7.12 M
#2. Sticky — 5.18 M
#3. Who Is She — 2.85 M 🆕️
#4. Igloo — 2.44 M
#5. Lips, Hips, Kiss — 2.18 M#KISSOFLIFE #키스오브라이프 #KIOF #Who_Is_She pic.twitter.com/fYs0eIg1UJ— KISS OF LIFE SPOTIFY (@kiofspotifykiss) April 13, 2026
“Who Is She” also ranked 6th on Billboard‘s “World Digital Song” Chart, along with achieving 32 million views in a little over a week.
The group have also performed at festivals, including the S2O Songkran Music Festival.
So, in some ways, KISS OF LIFE have recovered from the scandal and still have a faithful fanbase beside them. In other ways, however, including in the eyes of international netizens, and general opinion online, the group has yet to cover their image.
