Stray Kids on Monday became the first full K-pop group to ever attend the Met Gala, with all eight members in attendance at the annual fashion fundraiser. Unfortunately, something marred the momentous occasion “disrespectful” And “Racist” Comments from photographers covering the red carpet angered K-pop fans around the world.
In a widely shared clip from USA todayThe arrivals livestream shows Stray Kids members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and IN arriving at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for the event. Wearing coordinating red, white and navy Tommy Hilfiger suits, the K-pop idol group poses together for groups of photographers.
The 2024 Met Gala was full of floral fashion. The internet had thoughts.
Photo credit: Taylor Hill / Getty Images
It’s a loud environment full of people shouting instructions over the chatter of the crowd. Still, you can clearly hear several photographers making comments that they might not have made had they known that Stray Kids certainly understood English – or that their comments were being livestreamed.
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The Met Gala photographers sarcastically told Stray Kids to “take it easy,” complaining that the K-pop idol group wasn’t expressive enough for their tastes. This was a particularly inappropriate criticism considering that other guests such as Gustav Magnar Witzøe, Wisdom Kaye, Zendaya, and Willow and Jaden Smith were not similarly admonished despite displaying similar levels of emotion.
“I have never seen so many emotionless faces in my life,” one photographer said of Stray Kids.
“They are robots,” said another.
Characterizing Asians as robotic and callous is a racist stereotype that has persisted for decades. Such false narratives dehumanize Asian people, leading to exclusion, hatred and violence against them – and negatively impacting their mental health.
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Photo credit: Taylor Hill / Getty Images
But the group of Met Gala photographers pressed on, some complaining loudly as stray children took off their coats and complaining that they now had to take more photos of the group. Outfit changes are not an absurd concept for the Met Gala. Event co-host Zendaya even swapped her custom blue John Galliano for Maison Margiela dress for a black vintage Givenchy dress later in the evening. Lady Gaga brought no fewer than four outfit changes to the 2019 event.
Still, it was apparently too much for these photographers to simply take off their jackets from stray children. In fact, in the video, some of them can be heard commenting that they had to explain that it was still the same K-pop group, implying that others would think Stray Kids were completely different people just because they took off their coats .
“You need to explain this shit,” one said. “It’ll be, oh, two K-pop bands.”
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“That’s funny,” said another.
The idea that all Asians look the same is another persistent racist stereotype that dehumanizes them and reduces them to a homogenous mass.
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During the shoot, photographers also shouted at Stray Kids to jump or “do something crazy,” asked them how to say certain words in Korean, and appeared to mockingly joke that the group was right there on the red carpet performing would begin – a stark contrast to the behavior of the photographers when other celebrities stood in front of their lenses.
Combined with repeated shouts of “annyeonghaseyo” (“Hello” in Korean) and a comment saying “arigato” (“Thank you” in Japanese) in the video, the whole ordeal left a bad taste in many people’s mouths. Viewers from across the K-pop fandom have slammed the Met Gala photographers and criticized their behavior “disgusting” And “xenophobic.”
“Treating them like damn zoo animals because the photographers assume they can’t speak English is so disgusting.” wrote Twitter/X user @saimingki.
“You don’t have to be a fan of street children to recognize the obvious xenophobia,” said @mygucciburned98. “This is so disgusting and disheartening.”
“Not a stay or even a fan, but I know that they too are working hard for their dreams. So what the hell did I just see?? How rude and disrespectful!” commented @cypherluscious. Stray Kids fans are called “Stay”.
Mashable has reached out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for comment.
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The tweet may have been deleted
The tweet may have been deleted
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It’s unlikely that this rude reception went over the Stray Kids’ heads. Leader Bang Chan and rapper Felix speak English fluently as they both have Korean-Australian roots, while most of the other members have at least some knowledge of the language.
“We had such a great time because everyone treated us so respectfully~😊” Bang Chan reportedly posted to the K-Pop fan app Bubble later that night. Many fans interpreted this statement as sarcastic.
Bang Chan and his Stray Kids were also praised on social media for handling the situation with confidence and grace, despite knowing exactly what the photographers were shouting at them. It was undoubtedly not what the K-pop group was hoping for from their first Met Gala experience.
“If I was Skz I wouldn’t stay professional oml I’m not their biggest fan but I thank them like hell for keeping their composure in the face of all this shit.” wrote @haobaoshearts.
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The tweet may have been deleted
The tweet may have been deleted
The issue of anti-Asian racism has gained significant attention in recent years. Asian communities around the world have faced increasing racist rhetoric and violent attacks as many falsely blamed them for the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, it seems that this increased awareness still hasn’t translated into more thoughtful behavior for some.