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Mnet 'Street Woman Fighter' slammed for apology over Adhan: 'It's NOT music'

Muslim viewers feel that Mnet's apology isn't sincere since they shifted the blame instead of simply apologizing

A Twitter post went viral as netizens realized that Mnet’s survival show ‘Street Woman Fighter’ had used a remixed version of ‘Adhan’. ‘Adhan’ or ‘Azan’ is an Islamic call for prayer for those who follow the religion. It is a religious prayer that praises Allah and hence should not be used as a song. Many Muslim netizens also pointed out that it is considered heresy and is disrespectful. But a band named Losers created a remix version of ‘Adhan’ which Mnet ended up using.

After OP’s (original poster) Twitter post on September 8 went viral, many other users of different social media platforms banded together to spread awareness about the issue and pressurized Mnet to take responsibility for their actions. And finally, on September 9 KST, Mnet issued an apology in Korean and English on their Instagram page. But Muslim viewers are feeling deceived as the apology seems more of an excuse.

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Mnet's apology

Mnet apologized for using ‘Adhan’ as a soundtrack on ‘Street Woman Fighter’ and have taken down the video. They will edit it out and re-upload it. But it was the rest of the apology that irked netizens. Mnet added, “The song is an electronic soundtrack that is officially registered on the official streaming site. The production team thought that the electronic sound of the song was suitable as the background music of the program. We certainly did not hold any other intentions...Respecting your criticism...Mnet will continue to listen to the opinions of the viewers around the world.”

Netizens felt that Mnet was shifting the blame to the original creator of the remix and the production team that had not done their research. They also labeled netizens’ anger as “criticism” which everyone pointed out was inaccurate. Netizens explained that they were not criticizing which would mean a difference of opinion, but explicitly stating that it was wrong for Mnet to use religion for any reason. They also said that the team in charge should have done their research in advance. They also noticed that Mnet has previously been called out several times for cultural appropriation for which they have apologized in the past. Since Mnet continues to do so as seen with the use of ‘Adhan’, viewers feel that this apology is not sincere. "It's NOT a music," shared one user.

Uploaded seven years ago, netizens have also found the original music video and audio that Losers uploaded of their remixed version of ‘Adhan’. They have been leaving comments, disliking the video and reporting it in hopes that YouTube takes down the two videos.

One hopeful netizen tweeted, “Mnet, please be more professional next time, my religion is not a joke!! now you've apologized, hopefully next time there won't be anything like this again.” But one user pointed out, “U just apologize about about the sound track but didn't apologize to our religion, trust me I'll not watch it, that's why I didn't like mnet that much, but now I hate it more.” Another explained, “Btw there are so many others kind of music can be added but why tho they put azan into it that was so disrespectful.” “They've done it many times, apologized and did it again, they want a thrill so bad,” added another user.