By now, I am sure you have heard of BTS. Their 2020 hits “Butter” and “Dynamite” were inescapable, and if you have shopped at Walgreens recently, you will have heard “Permission to Dance” at least twice before leaving the store (believe me – I work there). Since coming back from their military service hiatus, the group has been making waves with their take two. Starting out the era being “unapologetically Korean”, BTS 2.0 has since been marked with the members turning their backs on what they originally stood for, with the turning point being marked by one man.
Chris Brown.
On August 11th 2026, members Taehyung (stage name V) and Jungkook went on a live stream, with a random R&B playlist playing in the background. During the live, Chris Brown songs came on 4 times. This was not a big deal. Not at the time, at least.
Then comes August 12th, where BTS leader Namjoon (stage name RM) and Hobi (stage name j-hope) went to the Chris Brown and Usher concert in Toronto. Not only did these two attend the concert, they took and shared several pictures with the convicted women abuser.
Needless to say, people were livid. ARMY (the name of the BTS fandom) was divided into many different camps. The most extreme sides are either calling for disbandment and black ocean (when concert goers turn off their lightsticks and turn their backs to the performers, the thing K-Pop artists fear the most), or defending the members to the point of violence. Of course, there is a spectrum of responses, with most falling somewhere in the middle, myself included.
On the most extreme side of ARMY, is, well, people who have left the fandom due to the lack of accountability by Namjoon and Hobi for attending the concert, and for Taehyung and Jungkook’s lack of accountability for listening to Chris Brown’s music. The calls for black ocean were few, but loud, especially before the BTS’s Arlington concerts (the first after the Christ Brown concert), though these were mostly coming from people who did not even have tickets. Despite this being the extreme, there was a stronger extreme. People called for disbandment. Yes, you heard me right. Some people called for disbandment for a group of 7 because of the actions of 4.
On the complete other side of ARMY, are the parasocial ones. I have actually seen way more people on this side online than I have on the black ocean side. There have been a lot, and I mean a lot, of posts defending BTS’s actions, citing they are not supporting Chris Brown’s actions by attending his concert, and the members could not have known about what Chris Brown has done because it is not well known in Korea. If that was it to this extreme, I would not be talking about it. But, of course, that is not the case. Many of ARMY have been harassing others online for saying they are leaving the fandom, or for simply calling out Namjoon and Hobi for not having said anything.
Shifting a little bit, the main K-Pop group I follow is Stray Kids, the punching bag of K-Pop fandoms, especially ARMY. Something that stood out a lot to me specifically was how frequently ARMY would bring up Bang Chan, the leader of Stray Kids, due to him having recommended and covered Chris Brown songs in past livestreams. But here is the difference: Bang Chan took accountability for what he did. He apologised, removed the cover and livestreams, and has not mentioned Chris Brown since. Meanwhile, Namjoon and Hobi have not apologised, they did not delete their posted stories, nothing. In fact, Namjoon said it was “an honor” to meet Chris Brown.
The majority in the middle, although falling on various sides overall, do wish for accountability from Namjoon and Hobi. Not an apology, accountability. That is all the majority of people are asking for. With BTS’s history of advocating for women, including being members of UNICEF, them now directly showing their support of Chris Brown is a slap in the face to their pre-military service selves.
Eventually, this will all blow over. What will never be repaired, however, is the trust now lost between fan and artist. Whatever happens from this point with BTS 2.0 will now forever be shaped by August 2026.