#PrettyMuchIsOverParty: Boy band canceled for past racist, homophobic comments even before first album releases
Pretty Much is being canceled by the Internet following the resurfacing of a wide range of problematic comments, including racism and homophobia, as well as alleged predatory behaviors. One of the more recent complaints has been against Brandon Arreaga, who has previously defined his racial makeup as Mexican and Caucasian, repeatedly using a racial slur commonly used against Asians back in 2019, which caused the internet to pull up receipts of the rest of the members engaging in similar behavior, including using the n-word, particularly with a hard r, as well as using 'gay' and 'retarded' as insults. And it appears that the issues are resurfacing once again.
Pretty Much is a five-member American-Canadian pop boy band based in Los Angeles, California consisting of members Arreaga, Edwin Honoret, Austin Porter, Nick Mara, and Zion Kuwonu. They were originally solo artistes until they were merged into a boy band by Simon Cowell in 2016. The group soon found a following owing to their covers of popular songs, with many commenting on both their singing as well as their dancing skills. Their debut single 'Would You Mind' dropped in 2017, with the group further demonstrating their musical abilities with an impromptu acapella performance of the track on the red carpet at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards. The group continued to gain popularity in the years that followed, soon finding recognition due to their collaborations with the likes of Ed Sheeran, who penned their 2018 track 'Summer On You'.
In 2019 the group shot to international fame with their 'INTL:EP' release which included the track 'Me Necesita', a collaboration with Latin-American boy band CNCO, 'Up To You' featuring K-pop group NCT's sub-unit Dream, as well as songs with guest vocals from Luísa Sonza and Iñigo Pascual. Pretty Much were evidently ready to make 2020 even bigger, kicking things off with their March stint as the opening act for select US dates of Camila Cabello's 'The Romance Tour'. Unfortunately, it seems like their run might be cut short, or at the very least, see them stumble for a while before they manage to make it back.
Arreaga recently shared a stream of tweets lambasting cancel culture and advocating for educating and uplifting one another instead. His tweets read, "Cancel culture is literally so stupid.. a concept built on dragging people down instead of lifting people up," adding, "You’ll convince yourself you’re doing a “good thing” by canceling someone else, but really it’s just an excuse for people to be gatekeepers and control freaks." He continued, "It’s manipulative. don’t get it twisted. pinning a bad reputation on somebody without even understanding the person to me is the same exact thing as the ignorant people in the real world who like the information they were spoon-fed more than the real thing," stating cancel culture was "proof" of "people want to see other people fail." He has also previously apologized for using the anti-Asian slur in a 2019 tweet. But, as it would appear, the group is not being forgiven quite so easily.
As #PRETTYMUCHISOVERPARTY began trending heavily across social media, some fans were left wondering, "what happened to pretty much?" while others were confused with the hashtag, asking, "Are we now saying pretty much everything is over now?." Some had no idea who Pretty Much was, tweeting, "WHOMST?!?!"
Twitter users were quick to share what the group was being canceled for: "Preying on underage girls, saying racial slurs, saying the n word multiple times, stating that men wearing nail polish is ‘gay’, selling fan gifts and running from fans." Some also made compilations of the group's various offenses, which includes cultural appropriation and allegations of sexual assault. Others have pointed out, however, that this isn't particularly new information. "I remember seeing a video one of them uploaded catcalling a girl while the others were laughing, and was so surprised to see no one talking bout it," tweeted one user, adding, "Jus goes to show how these ugly boys get away w sm sh*t it’s gross glad to finally see them getting exposed."
The group has been around a few years, but they are yet to release a studio album, and this has become a running gag among those canceling the group. "Just saw #PRETTYMUCHISOVERPARTY trending, like bro I didn’t even know they started who tf are they," tweeted one user, while others joked, "I mean they didn’t rly start tbh also idk what they did so uh #PRETTYMUCHISOVERPARTY," as well as, "They didn’t even have an album BYE #PRETTYMUCHISOVERPARTY." One fan tweeted, "OMG THEY’RE GONNA GET THEIR FIRST #1, CONGRATS!!!" along with a screenshot of #PRETTYMUCHISOVERPARTY climbing to number two on Twitter.
Some fans expressed their disappointment at the group's actions, sharing, "Spent half my tax return on them last year for FOMO Tour...I am a [clown]." Others, evidently amused by the steady streams of cancelations this week, quipped, "Omg all the whites boys getting cancelled #prettymuchisoverparty," while one user told fellow fans to "Stop putting ur trust in men."
Many newer Pretty Much fans began getting into the group's music following their collaboration with NCT Dream and shared that they were disappointed in them. "Oh man, well this is disappointing," tweeted one fan, adding, "Ever since nct dream x prettymuch I had a really good image of them but damn, don’t know about that anymore." Another said, "Not at how they were singing about consent with the dreamies but can't even follow to those lyrics. Ummm anyways chile." One fan asked, "Who gonna edit them out that nct dream collab for me."