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Trainee A Leo: HYBE under fire for launching new boy group with a 'misogynist' trainee

Trainee Leo was originally called out for writing provocative lyrics for his pre-debut rap songs for which he and his production team apologized

HYBE may be launching another boy group but the attention it is getting online is definitely what the label expected. After months of teaser videos and dance practice clips, the label has finally revealed a photo for the upcoming K-pop group that is currently in its pre-debut stage with the name ‘Trainee A’ under HYBE. The group is composed of seven trainees but member Leo is one of the most famous members of Trainee A for his appearance in the music video for BTS’ last hit single, ‘Permission to Dance’.

After his short appearance in a BTS music video, Leo was soon called out for writing misogynistic rap lyrics for a song slandering women. In a now-deleted video that was originally posted on Trainee A’s YouTube handle, titled ‘Showdown’ that rapper trainee was heard saying the words, “Ain’t nobody gonna tell me why that b***h stopped breathing. F**k that h*e why that s**t stopped breathing.” With all of K-pop stan Twitter calling him out for being misogynist, fans of the genre are still not ready to accept his apology and are lashing out at HYBE for including him in the group.

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Trainee A’s Leo apologized for his misogynistic rap verse

After being called out for Leo’s offensive lyrics the production team for Trainee A deleted the video posted on the group’s YouTube channel while also apologizing for their error of judgment. Trainee Leo himself also apologized to fans of K-pop for not thinking about the consequences of the issue. In his apology, Leo said, “As it was a competition, I felt as though I needed to use more provocative words and expressions in order to make an impact. This ultimately led me to make an extremely poor decision in which I feel great embarrassment over.”

Trainee Leo also said, “Although I can’t take it (my performance) back, I am aware that this was entirely my fault and will strive to do whatever it takes to reflect and learn from my mistakes.” K-pop fans who are not willing to let the issue slide are now calling the label despite the trainee’s apology stating that Leo who is from Australia needed to understand the gravity of his words and instead of apologizing afterward, he should have thought in hindsight by not writing such lyrics in the first place.

K-pop fans divided over their stance on Leo

While Trainee Leo has been getting hate for his insensitive lyrics, stan Twitter is divided with their stance over the trainee. While some K-pop fans are hating on the label for getting him to debut, other fans are stating reasons for haters to accept his apology. One user said, “Trainee a is a group of trainees under hybe that's debuting soon and leo's one of the members but he wrote rlly gross lyrics abt like... abuse and his apology was ass cuz he knew what he was writing cuz he speaks english and is from australia.”

Another user rose to his defense and said, “If this is about trainee A Leo, then this is my thoughts on it: I work with a lot of teenagers in Australia (where he is from). Lots of teenagers lack the emotional intelligence to reflect on how bad their lyrics especially angry young men. There’s no excuse.” One more user said, “Fyi. Its a cover and he modified the lyrics but not all ie “bxtch stop breathing” part is in the original.  He and the company have issued an official apology and took down the video which contained the rap.”

Stan Twitter lashes out at HYBE

Fans of K-pop have started calling out HYBE for debuting a group with a misogynistic member as one user said, “Hybe’s new bg looks very interesting… however they have that misogynist leo in the group so im not sure how that will work…” Another user said, “I can’t believe sexist and misogynist leo is going to debut; he should burn in hell.” One more user said, “streets saying one of them new hybe bg members is a misogynist like ouu not on women's day?” One user said, “F**k off they really confirmed that misogynist's (leo) debut on women's day hybe can go to hell idc.”

One fan of Trainee A said, “God leo makes me so mad if he wasn’t in the group I don’t think trainee a would get as much hate as they get.” One fan slandered HYBE saying, “Hybe really thinks they can create another BTS, haven't they failed with the other 2 already. Also, Leo misogynist is in the group. I mean no surprise when I saw the selfie of bangpd with scooter. BTS hard earned money will be used now to get plastic surgery for these newbies.” One user said, “You're just proving that the Leo guy is a misogynist bcs you're saying he writes his own songs?”

Disclaimer: This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.