MEAWW.COM / ENTERTAINMENT / K-POP NEWS

SM Entertainment’s GOT the beat members, BoA and aespa’s Karina slammed over colorist remarks

In a video released online, BoA is seen making a colorist joke on Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon’s past tanned skin while aespa’s Karina’s laughed hysterically

It seems like some K-pop idols just don’t understand the term ‘watch and learn’ as more artists from SM Entertainment are called out for their insensitive remarks about dark skin color. First, it was Aespa's (Stylized as aespa) Giselle who was slammed by fans for her lip-syncing the N-word on purpose and now it is Karina, another member of aespa, who is being called out by fans for her insensitive reaction to colorist remarks alongside mature idols like BoA and Hyoyeon. The newest girl group project from the label titled, Girls On Top (also known as GOT, in short) comprising of famous female idols from SM Entertainment is now facing heavy backlash online after member BoA’s colorist remark and aespa’s Karina’s overly exaggerated reaction to it.

With SM Entertainment launching their first female supergroup composed of other idols from the label, Girls On Top’s first subunit named GOT the beat consisting of members namely BoA, Taeyeon and Hyoyeon of Girls’ Generation, Seulgi and Wendy of Red Velvet, and Karina and Winter of aespa that dropped their first single, ‘Step Back’ early in January this year and are currently promoting the same. Just as they do so, members BoA, Hyoyeon, and Karina have now found themselves in some hot water with K-pop fans who are calling out their colorist remarks on Twitter.

READ MORE

aespa Ningning slammed for supporting China at 2022 Olympics, fans say she’s Chinese

Black MYs have mixed reactions to aespa’s Giselle's apology for mouthing N-word

GOT the beat, BoA makes a colorist remark about Hyoyeon

While the project group GOT the beat enjoyed a lot of success with their latest single, members BoA and Karina alongside Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon are being slammed for their lack of respect for people of color. In a video that is currently going viral on Twitter, Hyoyeon (the member of Girls’ Generation), BoA, and Karina (a member of aespa) are seen sitting across the camera as BoA, Karina, and Hyoyeon are seen answering questions from fans. Hyoyeon asks BoA the first question which reads, “First impression of the person beside you (Hyeoyeon, herself) in 5 words?”

BoA grabs the attention of fans as she is heard saying, “Oh I have one - She is very tan/black.” As soon as BoA says this, the camera pans to Hyoyeon and Karina laughing hysterically. Fans of K-pop are calling out the veteran idol like BoA for making an insensitive colorist joke, while Hyoyeon and Karina are for taking part in the colorist joke by laughing out loud.

aepa’s Karina claps and laughs exaggeratedly at a colorist joke

Just as the controversy around Chinese member of aespa, NingNing (Ningning) dies down, Karina, another aespa member is faced with negative comments online. After the video went viral, fans have accused Karina of not being socially aware as she clapped her hands and laughed exaggeratedly at BoA’s insensitive colorist remark. Fans are calling out the rookie for not learning from aespa’s Giselle’s past controversy and still acting childishly as she laughs at a joke on dark-skinned people.

With all eyes on aespa’s unrivaled success, all members of the group have been faced with a lot of scrutiny online which is why fans of the group expect the members to be extremely careful of their actions. With Giselle’s racial slur being a cause for concern among fans, NingNing, the Chinese member of aespa is already facing a lot of backlash from Korean fans for her controversial support of China at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Now, with her extreme reaction to a colorist joke, Karina joins the two members of aespa and is being called out online for her insensitive reaction to dark skin.

‘Colorist remarks are extremely disturbing’

Fans of K-pop started calling out all three GOT the beat members as one said, “Why do kpop idols always have to make colorist jokes… also why is karina laughing so hard?” One fan called out aespa members scandals saying, “What's the difference between 2AM and aespa? One group has three sick members and another has three Covid + members.” One fan pointed how BoA has given up on her international career saying, “Honestly speaking do you guys think BoA is still interested in expanding her career overseas? I don’t think she’s interested in being an international star anymore. I think she’s cool with Korea only. She didn’t even do anything for her 20th anniversary in Japan.” While another fan defended her saying, “She (nor the others) said nothing colorist?”

One fan said, “Honestly colorist jokes are normal in asian countries especially when joking with your friends whenever she/he got back from the beach. I hear it almost everyday.” One fan said, “I think it’s extremely disturbing how so many people are defending the clip going viral of boa and karina being colorist. like how are you gonna defend colorism and racism? take the idol element out of it, they were laughing at a harmful and colorist remark.”

One fan said, “Karina laughed at boas 'joke' whiel she was literally being colorist like it was the funniest thing in the world.” One fan lashed out at another who defended Hyoyeon saying, “Shut the f*ck up hyoyeons said colorist shit in the past before AND she laughed along and agreed about the comment.” One fan pointed out, “did karina really laugh at a colorist joke?” Another fan talked about an aespa fan defending Karina saying, “Aespa stans are mad weird... (context: i qrted #that video of got girls being colorist).”