Despite having BTS on his show years ago, it seems that nighttime host Jimmy Kimmel does not want to treat BTS and their fandom ARMY with basic courtesy.
In his January 21 episode, he had Emily in Paris star, an American of Korean descent, as his guest. Ashley Park covered BTS’ song ‘Dynamite’ on the series. Band members RM and V reacted to it on their Instagram page, and she took the time on-air to fangirl about it.
However, the nighttime host wasn’t pleased with BTS as a topic. He discussed their only appearance on his show, where fans camped out. He stated that it was crazy that time and warned Ashley to be careful because ARMY can attack. She stated that she’s a part of the fandom, to which the host replied that she won’t get attacked.
The host took it to another level when Ashley said she tested positive from the COVID-19 variant Omicron later on. Kimmel linked the band and taunted, “So, it was BTS fever.” He further continued, “They both are very dangerous. You are lucky to come out of those alive.”
ARMYs and Asians were infuriated by the host’s actions. COVID-19 brought many violent crimes against Asian-Americans and even Asians in their home countries. People called out the microaggressions, casual racism, and misogyny towards Ashley that took place in the interview. If that’s not enough, Billboard set up Ashley in an offensive headline.
Several viewers stated that Ashley deserved better as she’s a sweet girl and hoped that she’d get to interact with her favorite band more in the future.
Here is the video below:
