James Corden addresses BTS fan backlash over Late Late Show jokes: ‘Someone told me they hope I die today’
Presenter said he ‘loves’ the group’s fanbase, and that he ‘didn’t think the jokes were in any way offensive’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.James Corden has addressed the backlash he received from fans of the Korean pop group BTS earlier this year.
The Late Late Show host was criticised by members of Army (the collective term for BTS fans) in September over comments he made on his late night chat show.
Alluding to the band’s appearance at a UN summit, Corden described the band as “pretty unusual visitors”, before characterising BTS’s fanbase as being comprised of “15-year-old girls”.
Speaking to the band themselves on last night’s (23 November) episode of The Late Late Show, Corden discussed the backlash and walked back the latter remark.
“We did two jokes, which I didn’t think were in any way offensive to anybody,” he said.
He then conceded that his comment about the fanbase being solely 15-year-old girls “of course isn’t true”, claiming that he himself is “one of the biggest BTS fans on planet Earth”.
“I’ve never been on that side of the Army before,” he said.
Recalling his reaction at the time, Corden remembered telling his co-star: “Someone’s just told me they hope I die today.”
“Which did feel extreme,” he said, “In response to what I felt were two quite harmless jokes.”
However, Corden then flagged up the charity work carried out by some of BTS’s fans, emphasising: “We absolutely love you, and we love the entire Army. “The prospect of doing anything that may have upset them... I didn’t enjoy that feeling.”
The band took the incident in good humour, joking that they had accepted Corden’s apology.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments